Eve
by darlasmom
Summary: Bones finally pushes Booth too far - and he pushes back. Rated M for later chapters. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback you guys have been giving me - I appreciate it so much! This story is rated M for later chapters. Basically, the story begins where Booth's patience ends...if you like it, let me know!  
**

**EVE**

"Blaise Redfield seduced the victim and emptied her bank accounts – it's obvious she went off the deep end and killed him in the heat of the moment." Booth hurried after Brennan as she sailed through one of the Jeffersonian's many long hallways, case file in hand.

"'Went off the deep end'?" Brennan's sarcasm was obvious. "If by that you mean that she was clinically insane, that will **never** hold up in a court of law." Pushing open the door to the lab, she moved briskly toward her office, smiling at the sound of Booth's curse as the door bounced back into his elbow. Their argument about their most recent case had been raging for days, with neither willing to concede the point. Her ears were still ringing from their shouting match in the truck. She had employed every mental tactic she could think of, and as a result, Booth had been fuming all day. Baiting him was becoming the most enjoyable part of her time with him – she wondered every day just how far she could go.

"Of **course** it'll hold up in a court of law – she found out what he'd been doing and shot him with the gun from her nightstand." Booth rubbed his elbow, wincing at the pain. He shot an infuriated scowl at his partner, pissed beyond all belief that she was being so pigheaded about this. His head was throbbing in time with his elbow, his blood pressure had to be sky-high, and there she was, cool as a cucumber, calmly pressing his every button. It was deliberate, he knew it. Whenever she was in the wrong, she started to play this game, figuring he'd get so mad that he'd walk away. And, of course, he fell for it constantly – he helplessly rose to the bait every time. To add to his misery, she was wearing another one of those blouses today – the low-cut, frilly tops that were a completely erotic contrast to her no-nonsense attitude. He'd nearly punched at least three guys today who'd been ogling her, all the while trying not to look for himself. _I swear she does __**that**__ on purpose, too – is she trying to kill me?_ It was getting harder and harder to remain professional with her – he knew he was sliding down a slippery slope, and couldn't seem to get his footing. _Focus, Seeley, focus._ "I'm telling you, any jury hears her story, they're gonna sympathize with her, and she'll get off."

Sitting down at her desk, she coolly organized her papers and pulled an apple out of the drawer. "That is a completely implausible story," she snidely remarked. "She shot him with the gun from her nightstand – **in the middle of the day, across town from her house**. It's patently obvious that this is a premeditated crime." Crossing her legs, she pinned him with one of her best analytical looks. "She should be charged with first-degree murder."

He sighed heavily, dragging a hand through his hair. "Bones…I'm telling you, she'll never be convicted. We charge her with that, and she'll walk. She should be charged with manslaughter. We hit her with that, she'll be convicted, do five to ten, easy." He made a face at her. "Anyway, you should be happy that she's getting off easier – you've been ragging on the victim since we started this case. You **hated** him."

"Excuse me, Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan looked up to see Selden Johnson, one of her students, at her door. "Yes, Selden?"

Booth whirled around, an angry snarl on his lips. "She's busy right now, kid – why don't you come back in a year or so?"

"Booth." Brennan glared at her partner. "It's fine, Selden, please come in. Are you feeling better? Do you have your report ready?"

"Yes, Dr. Brennan - Craniofacial Anthropometry, per your request. I do feel much better, and my doctor says I am no longer contagious. I appreciate you giving me a couple of extra days to finish the report." Nervously, Selden avoided the angry man pacing the room and focused on his teacher. He smiled, sidling closer to her as he realized she had one of **those** shirts on today. Peering down at her while she reviewed his submission, he suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He looked up hastily, meeting the enraged eyes of the man who had silently approached him and was looming over him, vibrating like a guard dog on a leash. He gulped, recognizing the extreme danger of his position, and abruptly headed toward the door, praying for a safe escape.

"This looks good, Selden. I'll do a more thorough review later and – " Brennan broke off, realizing that her student was no longer in the room. Her gaze shifted to Booth. "Where's Selden?"

"He had to leave."

Confused by his deceptively calm tone, she glanced out at the lab, but saw no sign of Selden. "That's strange." She frowned for another moment, then shrugged and placed the paperwork carefully in her inbox. Without breaking stride she picked up their earlier conversation. "While it is true that I dislike that type of person, it doesn't negate the fact that this is a clear case of first-degree murder. However, the victim **was** still a sleazy con artist." Biting into the apple again, she leaned over, straining to reach some papers that were falling off her desk.

Jaw clenched, gut tightening at the sight of her bending forward, Booth fumed impotently. She knew, she **had **to know what she was doing to him – and he wasn't going to put up with it for much longer. _Patience…_ "He wasn't any worse than the other mooks we've arrested in the past – why do you hate this guy so much?"

"Because he knew how these women felt about him, and he used it. He took advantage of their feelings and betrayed them. He used his alpha-male status to attract…basically, prey – to lure these poor women into horrible situations." Self-satisfied, she bit into the apple again, noticing that he was becoming distracted. The anger was coming off of him in waves, and seemed to be increasing exponentially.

He gave her a look of complete annoyance. "Bones, what the hell are you talking about?"

"It's one of the attributes of the alpha-male…take **you**, for instance." At his groan of sheer frustration and anger, she waved her hand condescendingly in his direction. "While you aren't a criminal, you definitely share some of the character traits of the victim. For example, you feel you're irresistible to the female of the species. It's a classic alpha-male tendency," she reasoned smugly. Smiling, she bit into the apple.

That apple – that shiny red apple – it was the final straw. He came around the desk in a fury and shoved her chair back as he leaned close. "Well, that's obviously not true, since I know of at least** one** female who doesn't find me irresistible!" he ground out. She froze, her eyes huge, shocked at the utter rage on his face. Against his will, his eyes dropped to the apple, her lips still on it. With a snarl he pushed away from her and burst out of her office. Work in the lab came to a halt as her door slammed against the wall, and all eyes followed Booth's fuming progress toward the exit.

Brennan's shock finally wore off. She thumped the apple down on the desk and bolted after her partner. "Booth,wait! **Booth**!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, you guys have just overwhelmed me with your wonderful reviews - you are all so kind! You inspired me with your great comments, so I skipped dinner and housecleaning ****(****okay, I didn't really want to clean anyway) and banged out the second chapter. Hope y'all like it - there's more B/B goodness - and badness - to come! Let me know what you think!  
**

**EVE**

Dashing toward the structure, she scanned the crowd desperately, trying to find him. Finally, she caught a glimpse of him getting into the Tahoe, and sprinted into the parking area._ Hurry, Temperance, run…_ She reached the truck as he backed out of his parking spot and before he could pull away, gripped the door handle and sprang into the passenger seat. She immediately wished she hadn't gotten in when he hit the brakes and swung around to glare fiercely at her.

"Get out of my truck, Bones. I don't want you here" His eyes were hot, blazing; the muscle in his jaw twitched convulsively.

"I want to know what you meant back there." When he ignored her, she began to steam. "Besides, this isn't** your** truck, it belongs to the FBI." He didn't respond, and her anger spiked. "Booth, what the hell is going on? You were rude to my student, you've been sullen for weeks, and you yelled at me! I think you owe me an explanation."

A feral light fired in his eyes as his control splintered into a million pieces. "Okay, Bones. You really want to talk about this? Are you** sure** that's what you want?" Booth slammed the truck into drive, speeding out of the parking structure. "Fine, let's go 'talk' about it." A twist of his wrist sent the truck roaring around the corner, rocketing toward his apartment. A red haze clouded his vision, and there was a persistent roaring in his ears. There was no going back now. _We're going to finish this._

"I don't know why you're behaving so ridiculously – you've been in a bad mood for days!" She turned to him, trying to goad him into talking, yelling, **anything**, but he merely gritted his teeth and stepped even harder on the gas. "I want to know what's going on!"

"**You **want, **you **want – you know, I'm getting pretty goddamn sick of hearing about what **you **want. I think it's time we talked about what **I** want." Forced to wait at a red light, he tapped the steering wheel testily.

"You were extremely unprofessional in the lab, and if you're going to be immature now, then I** don't** want to talk about this, after all. You can come see me when you've calmed down. This is pointless – just pull over, I'll walk back to the lab." She moved her hand to the door, then gaped in disbelief as the locks engaged. She spun back to meet his livid gaze, outraged. "Booth! Unlock the doors - now!"

He bared his teeth at her, his eyes deadly. "Nah, I don't think so. You wanted to talk about this, so now we're gonna talk about it." He shot a lethal look at her. "And don't even think of trying to get out of the truck, 'cause we both know how that'll end." He saw her jaw tighten with rage and was maliciously pleased. _Two can play at the fucking word games, baby._

"Are you insane? If I want to get out, I will – and you'll be on your way to the hospital. Open the damn door!" When he ignored her, she shot her hand across to his door, intending to release the locks herself. But in her arrogance she had underestimated him. Before she could blink, before the light had even gone green, he struck like a snake, grabbing her arm and hauling her into his lap. His mouth was on hers in the next second and before she could even think to fight, her muscles went lax and her mind blank. He ended the kiss in the next instant, and by the time her mind had cleared, had pushed her back to her seat. Jamming the truck back into drive, he stomped on the gas and the Tahoe jolted forward, tires screaming. Incredulous, shocked beyond all belief, she sank back into the seat, trying to figure out what was happening. The kiss – what did it mean? Ignoring the burning in her chest at the memory of their fast embrace, she gazed unhappily out the window, the cool glass soothing her flushed skin. Her desire to escape, her anger at him, all faded before her overwhelming confusion, before her intense desire for answers.

Thoughts swirling wildly in her head, she was quiet for the remainder of the drive, only stirring when Booth pulled up in front of his place. She glanced cautiously over at him, her heart sinking at the stony expression on his face, the blank stare. When he turned off the engine, she slid out of the truck, subdued, and followed him silently up the stairs and into his apartment. Booth pulled two bottles out of the fridge, and tossed one to her, downing half of his in one motion. He yanked his tie off, sending it sailing across the room, and the jacket soon followed. She set down the bottle and perched on the edge of the sofa, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as she studied him. She silently watched him pace back and forth, finishing his beer and then taking hers. She had never seen him like this - no, that wasn't true, she** had** seen him like this before. But never with her. Frustrated, yes, and annoyed, but - this was bad. Maybe she'd gone too far._ He acts as if he hates me. _Then he turned to her, slapping the bottle down on the table with a crack, and she could see that he was just as irate, just as worked up as when he'd left her office. The glint in his eye warned her that he was not going to be easy to deal with.

He gestured insolently at her. "Now we have nothing to distract us…it's just you and me, and no one else. We can have a nice long talk." He continued to stalk around the room, flexing his shoulders restlessly.

"Booth, what is wrong with you? You've been impossible to work with, and you're so angry. I've never seen you like this. What is going on?"

He looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Do you actually **not **know what's wrong? No," he decided without waiting for her to answer. "You know what's made me so **angry **– that's what you called it – angry. I don't think angry really covers it, Bones."

"Booth - tell me. Just tell me." Deep inside of her, a small voice offered up a possible reason for his behavior, but guiltily she silenced it.

"I've realized I want the nature of our relationship to change." Spitting the words at her, he stopped in the middle of the room, hands on hips, eyes challenging her. He was breathing heavily, as if he'd run a long distance, and tension ran through every line of his body.

Nothing could have shocked her more than the words he'd just uttered. She stared blankly at him, dumbfounded by his revelation. She'd been receiving so many mixed signals from him; she hadn't known what to think. Pain lanced through her – he was her best friend, her **family** – and just like that, he was done? Her jaw tightened, and a martial light gleamed in her eye. No one, **no one** hurt her like that and got away with it. Not ever again. She was through with being abandoned, being left behind. "Damn you – you bastard." Flinging herself off the couch, she confronted him, nose to nose. "How **dare** you treat me like this!" Thumping her hands on his chest, she shoved him backward, and then moved in again. "All the crap, the moods, your rotten attitude, and now this?" She shoved him again, grimly pleased to see his eyes flare dangerously. "It's all because you don't want to be my partner anymore?" As the last sentence left her mouth, she felt the emotions welling up inside her, and backed up in a sudden panic. "To hell with your irritability and your temper and your whims – to hell with you!" She knew she had to leave, quickly, or he would see how upset she was. Turning on her heel, she bolted toward the door, intent on walking home if necessary. But once again she hadn't reckoned with his quickness. Even as her hand hit the knob, he caged her against the door, effectively blocking her escape. She tried to dart away from him, but he crowded her, hemming her in with his arms. She knew she could fight him, she was strong enough physically, but suddenly something was happening to her. Her breathing ceased – then started up again, quicker, and she began to tremble. He was so close - another inch and his lips would be on hers. The memory of the kiss in the truck leapt, full-blown, into her head, and her pulse pounded in her throat. _Oh, my god. _She pressed her back against the door, looking up at him with wide eyes.

**Do you hate me? Please don't hate me for stopping here - I promise there's more to come. If you liked it, let me know!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, here is the next chapter! It's the middle of the night, so please forgive me if anything doesn't make sense - I'll read it again when I'm more alert. I really hope you like it. If so, please let me know!**

**EVE**

"Now, Temperance, you weren't listening." The mild, measured tone of his voice was at odds with the licks of temper – and something else, something darker – running across his face. Distracted by her careening emotions, she missed the pain behind the anger. "I didn't say I didn't want to be your partner anymore. In fact", he breathed, stroking his thumb gently against her jaw, "I'm the only partner you're ever going to have."

Confusion flooded in to replace the hurt bouncing around in her chest. Confusion, and a yearning for something as yet unknown. She should be angry at his arrogant statement, she should knock him to the floor – but her heart was thudding so violently, it seemed there was only room for uncertainty. She had no knowledge of what he would say next, do next – it was all uncharted territory for her. He'd pressed her like this when they'd first started working together, but where she had previously been unmoved, now a jumble of sensations were clouding her mind, attacking her will. This wasn't some unfriendly, unknown co-worker - this was her partner, her friend. When he lowered one arm, she immediately took the opening, slipping back into the apartment. She heard the _snick_ of the lock being set, and froze in the middle of the room, every muscle tensed. She shifted cautiously, turning as his broad shoulders filled the doorway. The low light in the room left his eyes two pools of shadow, giving her no clue as to his current mood. He began to slowly walk around her, studying her intently, the very nature of his controlled movements unsettling. They were best friends, but this man – **this** man, she'd never met. When he finally began to speak – again in the same deliberate, bland manner – she flinched inwardly. Immediately, she was mad at herself for being so nervous. _This is Booth – it's just Booth. _Her spine stiffened, and she met his gaze levelly.

"Every day. Do you know what happens every day? I go to work. At a job I **used** to enjoy. A job that meant everything to me, a job I loved." He stopped in front of her, hands in pockets, smiling wistfully. "Funny thing, though – lately, every time I go to work, my partner – **my partner** – has been toying with me." The lines of his face were moody, sullen.

She remained alert but calm, her blue eyes clear. "You're still angry."

"Well, I don't like being played. I don't accept it from criminals, and I **certainly** won't accept it from my own partner." He advanced toward her, close enough that she could see the throbbing in his temple, the dark brown of his eyes. He inclined his head inquiringly. "What's going on, Temperance?" His stare was watchful, penetrating. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Why do you think I'm keeping something from you, Booth?" She kept her expression carefully blank, knowing he'd instantly spot any emotion that surfaced. His instincts with regard to her were second to none. She wondered vaguely why she was bothering to hide anything at all. _Isn't this what you wanted?_

He laughed suddenly, the sound echoing harshly in the room. "Because I **know **you, Bones, remember?" The smile faded, and he was instantly humorless. "Just admit that you've been playing your little mind games – why don't you own up to it?"

Weary from the strain of the past hour, she finally admitted to herself what she'd been denying for so long. He was her partner – he deserved the truth as well. She raised her head, meeting his gaze squarely. "You're right." Seeing that her ready admission had startled him, she continued hastily, wanting the confession over quickly. "I've been doing everything I could to push you. It's all true, everything you said."

He took a quick step forward, eyes narrowed. "**Why**?" The frustration and hurt were evident in his tone.

She opened her mouth to answer him, wanted to answer him, but suddenly couldn't bring herself to speak. It was so hard to break the patterns of a lifetime, and for Brennan, hiding emotions was her biggest. She could see his displeasure growing with every second, but still she was afraid to tell him her reasons. Then it happened. Before she could school her expression, she saw a flash of realization cross his face, and she stifled a curse.

He stared at her, shock engulfing him. He scrutinized her, but she had withdrawn again, and he saw fear flicker in her eyes briefly. His lips tightened – it was infuriatingly apparent he was going to have to pry the truth out of her.

"Did it ever occur to you, Temperance, that another reason I've been so – angry – is because I'm not supposed to put my hands on you?" He ignored the flash of shock on her face. Instead, he again circled her slowly, like a wolf stalking his prey. "I mean, sometimes you were just really annoying." A glint of dark humor flickered in his eyes as he stopped walking. He tilted his head to the side; one brow lifted. "But most of the time?" And now moving again, closing the distance between them. "I was usually about five seconds away from dragging you into the back of the Tahoe." Pausing behind her, he leaned in, closing his eyes as he nuzzled her hair. Her eyes blurred as his hot breath caressed her neck. A shudder ran down her back, and she felt a clutching in her stomach. His proximity - and his arrogant, blatant sexuality - set off every alarm in her body and made her want to run. In which direction, she wasn't quite sure. She was scared, but underneath was a surging wave of intense longing.

"I have to work next to you every day, eat with you, smell your perfume, see your beautiful soft skin. I have to stand idly by while first-year nerd students look down your shirt -" he gritted his teeth at that thought – "and if one more man gawks at you I'm going to get violent. I'm tired of looking and not touching – it's simply not enough anymore. I already have your days, but – Temperance?" Still standing directly behind her, his voice dropped dangerously low. "I want your nights." He smiled at her sudden alertness, at the catch in her breathing. "Well, I can tell I have your attention now. As a matter of fact, you don't seem too disturbed by the idea. Now **why** doesn't that surprise me?"

She swallowed hard, fighting to gather her wits, but – uncharacteristically for her - her thoughts kept scattering. His primal manner called to some part of her; she was stunned and ridiculously aroused by the images – and urges – boiling in her. Then he gripped her shoulders, turning her to face him; his hands slid slowly down her sides, coming to rest on her hips. His chocolate eyes gleamed darkly at her and had her breath backing up in her lungs.

"Where's the scientist, now, Temperance? You're not running on your brain now – this is **all** **emotion**." His hands were kneading her hips, stroking, sliding behind her to caress. And all the time, he kept watching her, waiting – something in his hooded eyes making her aware of every tingling inch of her body. He brought one hand up, cupping her breast, his thumb rubbing her nipple through the soft fabric, drawing a quiver from her. "How does it make you **feel** when I do this?" Tugging with his other hand, he pulled her snug against him, leaving her in no doubt as to his arousal. "Or this?" She was vibrating like a plucked string; her head tipped slightly back, eyes slitted. "Do you want me to **stop**?"

She felt flushed, hot; she couldn't get enough air. There was no room in her world for anything but him. Her hands reflexively clutched his shoulders, digging into his shirt. Again she tried to speak; again, she failed. Her mind screamed what her mouth couldn't say. _Nodon'tstopohgod…._ He smiled wickedly, his lips a hair's breadth from hers. "Better speak up, Temperance." He closed the gap and caught her lower lip between his teeth, biting down gently.

She moaned helplessly into his mouth as it settled hotly on hers, his tongue sweeping greedily inside. Then moaned again in protest when he pulled away. "Seeley..."

He shook his head slowly, his eyes locked with hers. "Time's up."

**I know, I know, I'm sorry... :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**EVE**

To her utter shock, he took a step backward, dropping his hands to his sides. The absence of his touch, his taste, was like a blow to the chest. Every cell in her body strained forward as she looked searchingly at him. Breathing heavily, he was staring at her with burning eyes. He angled his head questioningly, and suddenly, everything made sense. She had to make the final decision, had to choose what she wanted. Had to **tell** him what she wanted. He couldn't - **wouldn't** decide for her.

He looked at her, waiting, his heart racing. He prayed he hadn't been wrong, that what he'd seen in her face hadn't just been wishful thinking on his part. If she turned from him now, he wasn't sure he'd survive. His need for her had become so outrageous, he couldn't clear his head. She was the only one who could push him to this point. Now or ever.

Her gaze dropped to the floor for the shortest of moments, and then she raised her head, her eyes glittering like gems in the dim light. Giving her emotions free rein, she stepped forward, standing body to body with him. He searched her face, and instantly had his answer. His lips parted on a sharp breath; his eyes went razor-sharp. In the next heartbeat he was on her, pouncing like predator to prey. Circling her waist with one arm, he lifted her off the floor. Whirling around, he took two long steps and she was against the wall, pinned by his hard body. His free hand was racing up and down her side, igniting a firestorm of feelings within her. They looked at each other for several long, long seconds, eye to eye, mouth to mouth – then his fingers twined in her hair, tipping her head back, and his mouth descended on hers in a brutal, open-mouthed kiss; lips slanting, tongue tasting, taking. He shoved his knee between her legs, eagerly swallowing her gasps as he bucked his hips, pressing center to center.

His crazed desperation made his movements clumsy, rough – and awakened the animal inside her. She moaned desperately, frantic to feel more, taste more. Locking her fingers in the front of his shirt, she dragged at the edges until they gave, buttons bouncing merrily along the floor. Purring in satisfaction, she ran her hands over his skin, delighting in the feel of the hard muscles just underneath. He was still pushing upward, grinding erotically against her. She had a sudden, ferocious desire to feel him against her; gripping the hem of her shirt, she broke the kiss and whipped the fabric up and over her head. His eyes flashed, lowered; hungrily taking in the black lace and pale skin. His head dropped, and she groaned as he buried his face against her soft curves. Groaned again, louder, when his tongue dipped under the lace to taste.

"Oh, god, Booth…" She slid her hands through his hair, pulling his head even tighter to her. Hard tremors racked him, and she realized that he was as aroused as she was – his need was just as intense. Reveling in his strength – her feet had not yet touched the floor – she wrapped a long leg around his waist, pulling him even closer, opening herself more fully to him. She yanked at his shirt until, with a last tear, he was free of it, and flung it to the floor. Her nails dug into his naked back, raking across his powerful shoulders. "More…"

Her words and actions were rapidly driving him insane. "I've been wanting to do this all day – goddamn, you smell so good, you **taste** **so good**." Flicking open the clasp of her bra, he nudged the material down with his lips, and fastened his mouth on her nipple. She cried out at the hot, wet sensation, convulsing against him, back bowing, and what small amount of control he had left crumbled. On a desperate curse, he spun them about, heading for the bedroom, her long limbs wrapping around him. Suddenly he felt something grab his foot and they were _flying_, soaring through the air. Instinctively, he twisted, trying to protect her from the impact. His back hit the floor hard, and the breath was driven from him. He gasped, trying to recover, to see if she was hurt. "Temperance…are you okay?" She was squirming, wiggling against him, and he felt the urgency rising again, quickly. "Temperance…"

She brought her lips to the soft flesh of his neck. "I'm fine." When she felt him try to lift her, to get up, she pushed back, hard, and grabbed his hair. "Don't." She clung to him like a burr, resisting his efforts to set her away from him.

"Temperance, you…the bedroom…" She forcefully seized his mouth with hers, her tongue dueling with his, and he felt all intelligent thought fade away.

"No." She bit his lip, returning the favor, and her hand slid down to cup the bulge beneath the fabric of his trousers. She smiled, thrilling at his helpless groan, at the automatic jerk of his hips. "Here."

His hands gripped her waist, and without warning he flipped her, rolling over and over until they were on the soft rug in the center of the room. Panting, he looked down at her, desire screaming through him at the erotic vision of her beauty, the sight of her lost in her desire. "Here, then." His head dropped to her heaving chest, his mouth assaulting one nipple, then the other. His hands streaked down her body, roughly pushing the rest of her clothes down and off. He gripped her waist, and then his hands slid further down, arrowing to her center.

He touched her, and the shock overwhelmed her - she stared blindly up at him, moving reflexively against his hand. "Seeley…Seeley…" She thrashed violently beneath him, drawing a groan from him at the evidence of her abandon.

She was so responsive, so open, he almost lost it then and there. "Everything about you is **so hot**, baby…oh, Jesus…" His long fingers teased her, brushing lightly against her, then pressing deep. He watched her with a ravenous expression as he played with her, tested her. One stroke, then another. Then one more…

Shattering into a million pieces, she arched into his hand, a desperate curse bursting from her lips. Spots danced in front of her eyes, and she couldn't breathe. As her mind slowly cleared, she grabbed for him, needing him close. But the insatiable hunger on his face stopped her, held her captive – and from the look in his eyes she could see he had other plans. To have his laser-like focus on her was devastatingly seductive.

He slid down her body, kissing her soft skin until it was flushed with passion. His jaw clenched as he reached his goal. "You're gonna want to hold on." His dark eyes flicked to her, then back down, and he nuzzled gently at her. Her eyes flashed wide, her mouth open, gasping for air. Strange sounds came from her, and it suddenly struck him that she was _begging_. The sound of her breathless pleas provoked a fury within him, and he ruthlessly put his mouth on her, ripping wild cries from her with a searing kiss. He tasted, tormented, teased inexorably until she was whimpering, begging.

She clawed at him like a wild creature, driven to the breaking point, incapable of rational thought. Her blood was boiling, her breath coming in ragged sobs. "I can't. I can't…"

He smiled, looping an arm around her thigh. "Yes, you can." And used his teeth.

Her knuckles rapped hard against the floor as she was torn in half by the earth-shattering orgasm cutting through her. She arched helplessly, her back bending, every muscle locked. Beyond the explosions in her head, she heard a scream fill the room, and dimly realized it was hers.

He watched her as if in a trance, every muscle in his body quivering, trembling at the sight of her ecstasy. This was better, so much better than anything he'd ever imagined. So much **more**. And he'd imagined a lot. When the storm finally passed, he placed a hot kiss on her thigh and pulled himself back up to her. Her head was back, eyes closed. A single tear glistened on her lashes. Lowering himself to her, he brushed his lips against the wetness. "Temperance."

She opened her eyes as he settled on top of her. A hungry, almost feline light entered her eyes as she realized that somewhere along the way, he'd rid himself of his pants, and her delicate fingers immediately wrapped around him, stopping him in his tracks. A hoarse gasp burst from his lips, and his head dropped to her neck, every muscle tensed at the heady sensation of her hands on him. Stroking his hardness, caressing, gently squeezing, she knew she literally had him in the palm of her hand. She smiled dangerously, knowing she was controlling him as completely as he'd controlled her. "Seeley." When he didn't answer, but simply shuddered against her, she squeezed more tightly, drawing a hiss from him. "Look at me." When he raised his head, the look in his eyes made her stomach clench in anticipation. She released her grip, wrapping her arms around his torso. "**This** is what I wanted." Her smile widened as raging lust distorted his handsome features. The waiting was over.

With one swift lunge, he embedded himself completely within her, and their simultaneous gasps of pleasure filled the room. He set a punishing pace, demanding everything of her. She was swallowed up by his ferocity, his hunger, and swept along by his all-consuming need. He was on top of her, in her, surrounding her - he dominated her every sense. Reason and intelligence fled, leaving only the animalistic. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she frantically urged him on. "Faster…harder…god, Seeley, yes…"

Without warning, the last vestige of his sanity dropped away, leaving only the savage. Snarling, his hands braced on either side of her head, he thrust brutally into her. She was cursing, bucking, and those legs, those goddamn **legs** of hers were tightening at his waist with every thrust, pulling him in, driving him insane. He needed more. He **had** to have more. He wanted everything. His teeth nipped firmly at her throat, and pulled another, louder groan from her. She turned her head and their lips collided, tongues fighting madly for dominance. Her eyes gleamed in the darkness, the elemental hunger and desperation plainly evident on her face. Deep inside, she was clenching, gripping him tightly. Muscles bunching, hips plunging, he drove into her over and over, the ancient drive to mate now controlling both of them. He heard her cry out again, and suddenly she stiffened, nails digging deep, her convulsions pulling him even closer. Her legs were like iron bands around him, and he felt it coming, tried to hold out, but was unable to fight the inevitable. "Oh, fuck, fucking Christ…"With a loud moan he surrendered to the razor-tipped orgasm that blasted through him, shredding every inch of his body, leaving him drained, empty. Hazily thinking that he would crush her, he rolled weakly to one side, pulling her against him.

She sprawled atop him, boneless. Her head lolled against his chest, eyes closed. She was vaguely aware of his galloping heartbeat, and in a daze she listened as it began to slow. His arms were lazily looped around her, and she smiled contentedly. Suddenly a tremendous thirst came over her, and she opened her eyes, eventually spotting a water bottle on an end table. She began to lift herself, muscles trembling from the effort. Quickly, his arms tightened, causing her to collapse back onto him. She turned her head to find him eyeing her possessively.

"Don't go too far, Temperance." Sliding one hand low, he caressed her intimately, smiling at her involuntary tremor. "I'm not done with you yet."

**I think I need a cigarette.**

**Apology accepted?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, well now that we're all a bit more - relaxed, shall we say - I managed to finish another chapter. Hope you like it - and thanks so much for the great reviews, you guys keep me going, without a doubt. Enjoy!**

**EVE**

She looked at him, eyes wide. "Now?"

He dropped his head weakly back, chuckling. He was amazed he actually had the energy to be amused. "No, Bones - I'm not 16 anymore. Much as I'd really, **really** like to…" He dropped his hand on her stomach when she rolled tiredly down onto the floor, and they stared up at the ceiling together. His fingers traced invisible patterns on her bare skin as they watched the play of light and shadow above them. The muted sound of traffic filtered through closed windows, somehow making them seem even more isolated from the world. After a time, he turned to her. "Where were you going?"

"I'm thirsty…there's a water bottle..."

"I'll get it. Stay put." Heaving a sigh, he leaned over, reaching out to snag the bottle, and winced as his body protested. He collapsed next to her again, and her hand moved to his shoulder, probing gently.

"What's wrong?" Her fingers brushed lightly over a newly-formed bruise, soothing away the pain. Touching his skin was still so new, so satisfying. She was reluctant to stop – her fingers had a mind of their own.

He exhaled quietly, feeling ridiculously relaxed. She had a marvelous touch – he could feel dozens of little aches disappearing under her hand. And a few new ones starting up… "It's nothing - I think my shoulder got the worst of that fall. Are you sure you're okay? We really went flying."

"I'm fine, I wasn't injured. I landed on you." Her eyes lost their focus as she recalled how he'd turned in midair to cushion her fall. Her brain knew she hadn't needed him to do that – but her heart remembered, and tucked the memory safely away.

"For which I am **extremely** grateful, by the way." He looked at her, eyes twinkling outrageously. Then he frowned, remembering the seconds before the fall. "Wait. What the hell did I trip on?"

Craning her neck, she finally spotted the offending items. Raising an eyebrow, she smiled at him. "Your jacket and tie. Didn't your mother teach you to hang up your clothes? What would she have to say about this?"

He snorted out a tired laugh, looking back up at the ceiling. "She ain't** ever** findin' out about** this**."

A ringing startled them, and Booth looked around, realizing it was his celphone. "Alright, where the hell's my phone? Do you see it, Bones?"

She finally located it under the front of the couch and passed it to him. "Here."

He took it from her and quickly flipped it open. "Booth. Yeah, Angela, she's here." There was a long pause, and Brennan strained to hear the conversation, but was unable to make out Angela's comments. "I guess she forgot it…Sure, hold on." He handed the phone back to her. "She wants to talk to you."

"Angela?"

"Sweetie, are you okay? What happened? Why was Booth so mad? I hope he didn't shoot another ice cream truck, 'cause he was** really** angry."

Brennan closed her eyes, her brain swirling as she tried to decipher her friend's rapid chatter. "No - Angela - everything's fine." She frowned. "Why did you call Booth's phone?"

"Yours is here, in your office."

"It is?" She glanced around at the various piles of clothing, confused. Had she really left without it? She had been so distracted this afternoon that she'd completely forgotten it. It was very disturbing - what had she been thinking?

"You forgot your phone - you** never** forget your phone! Brennan, what is going on?" Angela's suspicion – and curiosity – carried clearly over the phone.

She knew that she was unable to lie convincingly, so she didn't even bother. "I'll explain later, Angela. Everything's fine - just have Zach finish the bone analysis on the Jane Doe that came in today. I'll see you later – um, I'll see you tomorrow." She flipped the phone shut, cutting Angela off mid-sentence. Feeling ridiculously awkward, she began to search for her clothes, avoiding Booth's eyes. She felt him looking at her, watching her, but she couldn't bring herself to face him.

"You okay, Bones?" He knew perfectly well she wasn't; he had eyes in his head. The nervousness had come rushing back with the phone call, and now tension was pouring off her in waves. "Everything alright with Angela?"

"Everything's fine." Unable to find her shirt, she grabbed Booth's in frustration, quickly shrugging it on. Only one button was left, and she hastily buttoned it, smoothing the tattered fabric down her legs. Finally, annoyed with herself for avoiding the situation, she looked at Booth. "Really."

"Really, Bones? 'Cause I gotta tell ya, you're lookin' pretty jumpy right now." He grabbed her hand before she could avoid him. "We should talk, though. We have a lot to talk about."

Her stomach lurched. This was the part she couldn't do, the part she always messed up - there was always The Talk. And it usually ended badly. "We do?"

He pulled her into the circle of his arms, automatically moving to soothe. Kissing his way along her neck, he nuzzled her until she shivered. "Yep. Lots and lots of things to talk about…"

She felt some of her tension ease at his touch; it was like magic, and she relaxed against him, feeling much more comfortable. "I'm not good at the talking part."

He would've laughed, except for the unhappiness he heard in her voice. "I don't know, you seem to do pretty good for yourself when we talk," he remarked, deliberately misunderstanding her, hoping to lighten her mood.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "No, the after-sex talk. I always ruin things." Her fingers tapped pensively against his chest. "Emotions scare me. So I usually try to avoid talking about them."

Booth was surprised at her honesty – she'd revealed more than he'd thought she would. _She's not ready for more, not yet._ Booth knew he couldn't press her, knew she needed more time. Without hesitation he gave it to her. "Well, I suppose we could avoid it – for a while…" He smiled at the surprise and relief on her face. "How about a hug, instead?"

She tilted her head questioningly, eyes narrowed in speculation. "A guy hug?"

"Whoa, no – sorry, Bones. No guy hugs when I'm naked. That would just be – weird." His smile deepened slowly until her lips curved in response. "How about a regular hug. Is that okay?" At her nod of assent, he drew her close, wrapped his arms around her, careful to keep the embrace simple, reassuring. He'd finally gotten this far with her – he wasn't about to mess up now. Reluctantly he pulled back, releasing her. "You hungry?" Without waiting for an answer, he led her into the kitchen. Before she could perch on a stool, he nipped her by the waist and lifted her, setting her on the counter. Turning away, he began to brew coffee, failing to notice the fiery blush that stained her cheeks.

"I suppose I could eat something." She was grateful he was facing away from her – she knew her face was glowing. He made her feel so feminine - she knew it was silly, she was proud of her strength and ability - but she always loved how powerful he was, how easily he lifted her. He made her feel delicate – and as much as it embarrassed her, there was also a part of her that thrilled to it.

"I don't have too much, but there's some fruit, and I have toast and jam – and maybe some cereal. Breakfast for dinner okay with you?"

"That's fine, I'll eat whatever you have." She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to work free the worst of the knots.

He turned to her, a devilish twinkle in his eye. "Worked up an appetite, did you?" He laughed at the indignant look she gave him, then relented. "Sorry, Bones, I couldn't resist. I'm starving too, I have to admit." He started to gather ingredients from the refrigerator, setting various items on the cutting board.

Watching him stroll from one side of the room to the other as he prepared their meal, her eyes wandered freely down his naked body. She admired his tall, athletic build – and his lack of modesty. Obviously he was no prude, as she'd previously believed – he was simply a private man, a discreet man. Those things that were important to him were treated as such – they were considered personal. She'd seen evidence of his tact before, but had misinterpreted it. Now she realized her error, and it wasn't one she intended to repeat.

"I suppose I should apologize."

With a start, she heard him speak, and she quickly snapped to attention. Her brow furrowed. "Apologize for what?"

"I was a little – what did you call it? Alpha-male, that's it – a little alpha-male before. A lot, actually. I know you don't really like that, and if it bothered you, I'm sorry." He glanced at her, then started cutting up an orange.

She opened her mouth, then closed it. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind. So she considered it now. Before today, she'd thought herself experienced, and quite open to physical sensation. But what he'd done to her, what he'd made her feel, was beyond anything she'd ever imagined. She had quite simply lost control, and it had been one of the most astonishing experiences of her life. She smiled, then jumped as she realized he'd put down the knife, and was now standing next to her, watching her closely.

"Well, while I can't say I would appreciate your predatory behavior in the workplace, I must admit that, used in moderation at the appropriate time and place, it's very …stimulating." She smiled again, impertinently.

Moving close, he slid smoothly between her knees. Hands pressed to the counter on either side of her, he skimmed his lips along her collarbone. "See, now you've done it. It's your fault."

She gasped in breathless shock as he abruptly slid inside her, as his fingers began a tortuous path down her body. "_Oh god_…done…_oh_…what?" Instinctively she began to move her hips, meeting his leisurely thrusts. His hand on her back arched her toward him. She braced her arms behind her, leaning as her strength ebbed, as a delicious weakness stole over her. The final button surrendered as he tugged on the beleaguered shirt, and it slipped down her arms, lightly encircling her wrists.

He smiled at her, moving slowly, lazily. "Made me think about having you at work." Tracing a finger around her breast, he watched with fascination as she undulated under his hand. "Oh, and used the word _'stimulating'_". Deliberately he nipped at her jaw, drinking in her sweet flavor. "And then there's the fact that every time you use that snotty tone with me, you get me all hot…" Leaning down, he caught her nipple with his teeth, biting gently. He rotated his hips, and watched the answering ripple run through her.

"I can't breathe – what are you doing to me?" Her eyes were rolling back in her head, her arms quivering. The thundering of her heart was deafening, but she could still hear him. She could always hear him.

His hand slid from her face and trailed down the center of her body, slowly pushing her back onto the cool surface. "You know, I've always thought that these counters were just the perfect height…and this is just what I always imagined doing on them." Engrossed, he stared down at her as his hand slid lower - and lower still, until he reached the intimate spot where their bodies joined. She jolted, and her reaction to his touch shot through his veins, bringing him closer to the edge.

She strained against him, struggling to pull him closer, take him deeper. The sensations he was arousing in her were unbearable; she simply couldn't stand it. Lights flashed behind her closed lids and her entire body was burning. With a frenzied cry she surrendered all to him, shaking helplessly, locked around him.

He drank in her moans, her gasps - and then it was his turn to gasp when her hands gripped his lower back, fingers digging, pulling him close. He drove into her once, twice, and then groaned as the orgasm slammed into him. Leaning forward, he dropped his head gently on her chest, listening to her panting breaths. His hands stroked her trembling thighs. Idly, he watched a sunbeam travel slowly across the counter.

As they both recovered, he lifted his head to look at her. "Bones." His fingers tangled in her hair, lifting her head. "Look at me." Once he had her attention, he continued. "You know what you said before, about being scared by emotions?" He saw a cautious light enter her eyes, but knew he had to say it. It meant too much. "I just want to warn you that I'm going to scare you, probably pretty soon. I just want you to think about that." Without waiting for an answer, he placed a soft kiss on her lips and rested his head on her again. After several minutes, he spoke once more, humor lacing his tone. "I think I'm gonna have this counter bronzed."

The sound of her soft laughter filled his head, and eased his heart.

**Questions? Comments? Hope it worked for you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**EVE**

"Extensive postmortem bone fractures and disarticulation indicate the use of significant force, most likely a sledge-type hammer. Final report postponed pending results of bone density tests." Brennan clicked off the recorder and slid her last report off to one side. She glanced at her watch, sighed. Seven-thirty. She'd put in two days of overtime, and was finally caught up on all of her work - she'd lost the best part of a day when she'd run out after Booth. Her mind drifted as she thought back on the last week. She and Booth had worked furiously during the daytime, only to fall upon each other the minute they were off the clock. Her place, his place, it didn't matter. He seemed to be pleased with the current situation, and she – Brennan made herself admit it. Her evenings weren't complete unless she was with him. It didn't matter what they did, as long as they did it together. She'd even watched a couple innings of a baseball game – it actually wasn't as bad as she'd imagined. She'd amused herself by dissecting the bone structure and function of the players, at least until Booth had scowled at her and told her to stop working. She smiled, remembering. She'd still done it, but silently. Sitting there with him, she'd felt like part of a normal couple. It had felt good. Leaning on him without worrying what he might think, sharing special smiles over nothing. Sharing everything.

Amazingly enough, she'd managed to avoid telling Angela the truth, at least so far – although she was pretty sure her friend had figured it out for herself. She'd merely said that the fight was over, and begged her not to ask any more questions. She knew Angela had her suspicions, but she had respected her request and given her privacy. Privacy - she laughed inwardly. She no longer wondered at Booth's private nature. She'd finally realized, that first day they were together, just how wrong she'd been about him. Now, she found that she was of a mind with him. All she wanted was to keep their relationship a secret. For professional reasons, yes. But, more importantly, she wanted it all to be just theirs for as long as possible. She was unwilling to share him – what they had – with anyone else. She frowned, feeling slightly uneasy. Why was this different from her other relationships? She'd never cared before if anyone knew about them. A trickle of something – fear? – ran down her spine. _I don't understand this - I'm going to have to monitor this situation._

"I hope you're done."

She started, then frowned over at Booth, who was leaning casually against her doorjamb. "Booth, you startled me. Why are you sneaking around?"

He smiled, raising his eyebrows. "I wasn't sneaking – you were off in La La Land, somewhere." He knew what was coming next, and waited for it.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means you were daydreaming, Bones. What were you thinking about?" He eyed her shrewdly. _I think I know…_He'd stood for some time, watching her drift. She'd been smiling, and her eyes were soft. Then it had appeared her thoughts were taking a downward turn, and she had grown concerned, which was when he'd decided to interrupt. _I think maybe I need to throw her off balance a bit…_"Me?"

"No, of course not," she answered quickly, beginning to straighten her desk.

He smiled. _Bingo, baby._ "Well, grab your jacket and let's get out of here. I'd like to take you on a date." It gave him great satisfaction when she froze, casting a confused look at him. _He shoots…he scores!_

"A date?" Her brow crinkled, giving her the look usually reserved for when she was working.

"Yes, a date, Bones. I'm asking you out on a date. You know, dinner, some form of entertainment…?"

She sighed impatiently. "I know what a date is. But we've been out for dinner before, so why are you suddenly calling it a date?" The minute the words left her mouth she felt like a fool.

He took a step closer. "Because things are just a little bit different now, Bones." His dark eyes studied her, and the heat and knowledge in them made her stomach flutter. "We seem to have come at this whole thing backwards, so I thought we'd…simplify it a little bit."

She blinked as she frowned at him, confused. "I don't understand…you don't want to have sex anymore?"

He moved so quickly he was next to her before she realized it, his hand behind her neck. "Oh, no, I'm going to have to** insist** on that…that's not negotiable." He dipped his head and gave her a quick but thorough kiss, then seemed to remember where they were. He released his hold and leaned against the desk beside her, an easy smile on his lips. "I just think we should take some time to…have some fun."

"Fun." She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms, a suspicious look on her face.

"Yeah, Bones, fun." He crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. "What's goin' on here – you gonna say no to me? I hope not, 'cause I'm sticking my neck out here, asking you on a date…"

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Actually, you're not taking much of a chance. Considering the fact that we're currently physically intimate, the chances are fairly high that I'll agree to accompany you to dinner."

He chuckled, amused as always with her reasoning. "Bones, **nothing** with you is a sure thing. It's all one big roller-coaster ride." He held his hand in front of him, mimicking the dips and turns of a coaster car.

She glanced at him, annoyed. "A roller-coaster is by definition a steep, sharply curving elevated railway with a predetermined course, so, actually, your description is inaccurate."

"You know, I bet if I looked that up in the dictionary, it'd be word-for-word, wouldn't it?" His smile took on a different, slightly darker quality as he leaned closer to her. "Bones. Will…you…go out…on a date…with me?"

She was unable to look away, and suddenly realized that yes, she wanted very much to go on a date with him. The few times she'd met up with him at night for a case and he'd had Tessa with him, she'd been secretly envious of the other woman. She wanted to know what it was like. She stood, a smile on her face. "Yes, Booth, I would like that very much."

He grinned and held out his hand. "Let's go."

BBBB

BBBB

The little joint in Georgetown was congested with revelers enjoying the music and celebrating the arrival of the weekend. Raucous blues filled a room already crowded with dancing couples. Brennan watched the action from the little table Booth had secured, highly interested in the activity around her. She'd been reluctant to come here after dinner, but Booth had wheedled, and finally she had agreed. Now that she was here, however, she had to admit that she was enjoying herself. She felt a touch on her hand and turned to see Booth smiling as he watched her. "What?"

"I just enjoy watching you study everything – I can hear your brain going a mile a minute." Hell, he'd barely been able to look away from her since they'd arrived. She was fascinating – part of her was analyzing the press of people around her, but another part – the part that was making her eyes sparkle – was simply enjoying the chaos. He flipped his hand over, gripped hers. "Glad we came, now?"

"Now that I'm here, yes, I have to say that it is very intriguing. And the music **is** quite good." She glanced down at their joined hands, then back out at the dancing. All night he'd been touching her, light, casual touches, almost as if he was making sure she was actually there. He'd been charming all evening, making her laugh, entertaining her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. And the attraction was still there. All it took was one long, quiet look from him and her body began to hum. Everywhere she looked, everywhere she turned, Booth was there - in her mind, in her blood.

"I knew you'd like it. Let's dance, Bones."

She was immediately on guard. "No, Booth, I don't want to."

"Come on, I have to work off some of my dinner!" He patted a hand on his stomach.

"Your dinner and half of mine, you mean…" She tried to pull away from him, but he only gripped her hand tighter, refusing to release her.

"Well, you were done with it, anyway!" He grinned roguishly at her, charm oozing from every pore.

Even though she was panicked at the thought of dancing with him, she couldn't stop herself from smiling in return. "Maybe later, Booth. I'm not ready to dance yet." The truth was, she always felt awkward when she danced. Specifically, she always had problems dancing with men – really dancing, not just jumping up and down in some club. She could never seem to disengage her brain, and her naturally competitive nature always took over, leading to many bumpy moments. The only time she'd danced that wasn't a complete disaster was that time with Booth in Washington State, when they'd been investigating a case. Now that she was involved with him, she found herself reluctant to display her lack of skill on the dance floor.

"Maybe later? You don't mean that, you're just stalling." He smiled again, taking pity on her. "Okay. How about a drink instead?" Without waiting for an answer, he stood, dropped a quick kiss on her lips, and headed for the bar. She smiled at her good fortune. He was so kind to her, always giving her the space she needed. He knew her thoughts almost before she did. He was funny, considerate, and sexy – and he was with her. At least for now. Her smile dipped a bit, then resolutely reappeared. She wouldn't look ahead, not tonight. She would try to simply enjoy the evening – an evening with her lover.

She finally spotted him working his way back through the crowd with their drinks, and as she watched him, the music faded until it was barely audible. Her heart was beating loudly, the sound echoing in her head along with the harsh sound of her breathing. She was held immobile, suspended, while all around her lights flashed, bodies swirled. Nervous emotion flooded her body, and she dropped her eyes, staring instead at her lap. But her gaze lifted to him again, against her will. His masculine presence was so huge, so ridiculously _alive_ compared to the other people near him. Everything in the room seemed to fade away, until there was only Booth, moving gracefully towards her. Even when she momentarily lost sight of him, she knew instinctively where he was. It was almost as if every cell in her body was connected to him, pointing toward him. The moment was so huge, so earth-shattering, she could scarcely believe that everyone else hadn't noticed. Then he was at the table, and the music and sound crashed back over her, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"Man, there are a lot of people here tonight, I had to fight my way to the bar…Bones? Bones, are you okay?" Concerned, he leaned close, gripping her chin. "Hey, Bones, c'mon…"

"I'd like to dance now." She felt as if she was in a trance – her only desire was to be close to him. She needed his hands on her, his body against hers.

"Sure, Bones, we can dance…are you sure you're alright?" Her eyes were glassy, unfocused, and her hand was limp. He frowned, worried that she was ill.

She smiled and stood, gripping his hand firmly. "I'm fine, Booth, really. And I really would like to dance now." Without waiting for him to comment she turned and headed for the dance floor, pulling him behind her. Then he grabbed her, spun her out, back, and into his arms. Her body bumped solidly into his, his hands gathered her close, and they began to move.

This was so different. She was dancing with him, and her brain was…well, it just _wasn't_. As they swung, circled and dipped, she was conscious of his hands, firmly pressing her into him. She couldn't look away - her eyes were constantly searching for his, and when they were close together, the scent of _him_ flooded through her, leaving her trembling lightly. His casual control of the dance was…very distracting. She came up hard against him again, and gave in to the urge to bury her face in his neck, to rest her head on his shoulder. His hands felt large on her waist, made her feel so tiny. His fingers lightly caressed the flare of her hip. Their movements slowed until they were barely swaying. One hand moved firmly against the small of her back, bringing her snugly, completely against him. The other hand entwined with hers on his chest. She kept her face tucked in the crook of his neck, nuzzling under his chin. They moved, slowly, through song after song.

She breathed in his goodness, his kindness – the things that made him Booth. _I want the miracle. I want it._ Suddenly he stopped dancing, and she slowly lifted her head, meeting his eyes.

Gone were the grin, the dancing lights in his eyes. He stared at her openly, hungrily, his mouth a breath from hers. "The music's stopped."

"Oh." She swallowed, sighing softly, completely absorbed in him. "We should go..."

Without a word he turned, tucking her tightly under his arm as they moved swiftly out into the inky night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Once again, I am humbled by all of your wonderful comments - I feel like we're on a wild ride together, and I can't wait to see where we finish. This chapter's a little short, but I had to get it out - the main characters were tapping me on the shoulder all weekend. So, I really hope you like it!**

**EVE**

They dropped their coats on the table and moved slowly into the living room. Brennan stood motionless, knowing Booth was behind her, hearing him breathe, feeling the warmth of his body. She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, ducking her head against his chest. His arms came around her, and they stood motionless, clinging to each other, lost in the moment. One moment became two, two became three. Time spun out, lengthened, the shadows the only witness to their embrace.

His hands framed her face, tipped it as his lips slowly touched hers, as their eyes drifted closed. A gentle dance of mouths quietly meeting, joining, moment after moment. She was drowning in him, in what was running between them. Finally, she took his hand, bringing it from her face to clasp it tightly. As she stepped back, he brought their linked hands to his mouth and placed a quiet kiss on her fingers. Their eyes met, held; the silent communication between them filled the room. She turned, once more leading him, but this time there was no rush, no urgency. They had all the time in the world. This was their world.

She stopped, the bed a looming expanse of darkness before her. The lamp she'd left burning cast a dim circle of light, illuminating the room with a soft glow. He again stood behind her, but now he closed the gap, his body touching hers. His hands slid around her to embrace, across her stomach, across her chest. She leaned against him - her arm snaked back, fingers whispering seductively over the nape of his neck, slipping under his collar to caress. She felt drugged, as if she was moving underwater. Inside her, something was rising, filling her. Her lips sought his again - they basked in the tenderness, in the stream of emotions flowing through them.

Booth drew his arms back, and her dress slithered to the floor at their feet. She turned and faced him, defenseless, exposed. He was still fully clothed, and the contrast between them was striking. His eyes dropped, travelling down her body and back up – taking in the elegant curves, the milky skin. She stood motionless before him, offering herself to him. What she saw in his eyes pleased her, and caused her heart to skip a beat – she reached up, loosening his tie, pushing his jacket off his shoulders. His hands joined hers, and soon his clothes were gone, forgotten in an instant.

They stood, eyes locked, the bond between them growing by the second. He reached for her, needing her near. "Temperance - you're all I've ever wanted." He pulled her to him and gave her a kiss – a kiss so soft, so gentle, she felt as if he was pulling her inside of him. Then they were drifting, floating, and he lowered her to the mattress. Their lips constantly met, touched, as if to prove to each that the other was still there. That this moment was true. He luxuriated in her scent, her presence. The feel of her soft skin under his fingers. She opened for him, took him in, without reservation. He slid in, easily, slowly, until he was deep inside her, their gasps blending together.

She sighed softly, reaching for him. Always reaching for him. Stroking, touching, kissing, they rolled slowly across the bed. Limbs tangling, bodies pressing, skin rubbing against skin. Heart rubbing against heart.

Suddenly, she tensed, and he heard a sob burst from her lips, felt her try to move from under him, to escape. He caught her arms, trying to see her face in the dim light. "Temperance, what's wrong?"

"I can't do this, I can't, it's too much…" Panicked, she fought to free herself. The swelling emotions were huge, terrifying. She couldn't contain them. She had to get away…She pushed against him, but in her terror, she was weaker than he was.

"Shh, Temperance, it's okay, it's alright…look at me." He held her firmly, refusing to release her. "Shh, c'mon now, look at me." Her struggles ceased, and he stared down at her tear-streaked face, stroking her cheek gently. "It's alright, calm down, now."

"It's too big, I can't, Seeley, I can't…" The look on his face, compassionate, caring, made her want to weep. She was failing him, just as she'd feared she would. As she'd known she would. "I'm scared." She tried to pull away, but again he held her.

"Do you trust me, Temperance?" He already knew the answer, but also knew she needed to say it. Needed to remember it.

Her lips trembled, then parted. "Yes – I trust you." He was the only stable thing in all of the swirling emotion, and she looked at him, fresh tears running down her face. He was the constant, the unchanged. "I've always trusted you."

He leaned in, touched his lips to her, felt her quiver. "Trust me now. Hold onto me." As he whispered he felt her hands steal quietly around his torso, and looked deep into her eyes. "Just let it happen, Temperance." He deepened the kiss, and he felt her hesitantly returning it. He waited, to see if she would accept him, accept **them**.

A creeping warmth was slowly moving in her, and without warning the swelling feeling eased its grip on her. He was **her** center; he was the one enduring point in her life. On a sudden burst of feeling she latched her arms around him, kissing him frantically. The emotions were pulling at her from all sides - she felt like she was coming apart.

He slowed the kiss, his leisurely caresses calming her once more. "You're safe, I'm here." Her eyes flew to his, and the fear was still there, but so was the trust. He kissed her again, intent on erasing one, earning the other. With each passing moment, they eased past her anxiety, edging toward a safe haven. His heart was pounding so hard, he thought it might burst through his chest. All his desires, his dreams, coalesced in this one moment. Her. There was only her, and there would only ever be her. Every second imprinted itself on his mind; a vibrant etching that he knew would last forever.

They were wrapped around each other, so much so that everything else disappeared. There was only _him_, and if she could stay here forever, she would. They paused, eye to eye, breath mingling, and her eyes spilled over with fresh tears. This was more than anything she'd ever believed possible, this feeling - she couldn't begin to comprehend it. She looked up at him in wonder. "There's no word for this – there can't be…"

He smiled, his eyes warm with understanding. "There is. When you're ready, there is." He dipped his head to hers, drawing her into a sumptuous, intimate kiss, and began to move again. She folded around him, lips fused to his, her movements slow and steady. The sweetness swamped her, filling every inch of her body. Their passion spiraled lazily upward, sweeping them along before it. Her arms tightened around him as the wave suddenly burst over her, drenching her in warmth. He buried his head against her neck and followed her, his body stiffening, plunging, uttering soft words she couldn't quite hear.

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They lay in the darkness, spent, her head on his chest. Their passion had long since cooled, and he knew she'd drifted off to sleep some moments before. His hand stroked her back, over and over, as he stared up into the darkness. He could hear her slow, even breathing, feel her body tucked against his side. Her arm was draped over him, her small hand trapped under his back. His lips moved, the words barely audible in the silence. "I love you, Temperance." Then he was quiet, his hand skimming her back ceaselessly.

Her lashes fluttered, blinked. Blinked again.


	8. Chapter 8

**EVE**

Something was up. He knew it – he could smell it.

In the several days since their date, he'd caught her looking at him when she thought he was unaware. The first time, he'd caught her by chance. She'd had a cautious, almost fearful look on her face, but when he'd asked her what was wrong, her expression had cleared instantly, and she'd denied that there was a problem. But he knew better. After that, he began to watch her, curious but not overly concerned. He caught her a few more times. He hadn't mentioned it again – he knew she was having a tough time working through her emotions, and it just didn't feel right to push her.

Then they'd run into a particularly busy spell at work, and had put in a couple of sixty-hour workweeks. They had spent only a handful of nights together – Bones had received a massive amount of remains to I.D., and, to tell the truth, they were both exhausted. He'd offered to stay with her while she worked in the evenings, but she'd absently waved him off, merely saying he'd be a distraction. He smiled, remembering – she had probably been right. There was no way he would have been able to keep his hands off her. So, he would go home, only to discover in the morning that she had spent yet another night on the couch in her office. But even that wasn't unusual, not when she was busy.

The problem had arisen in the past several days. Their caseload had dropped off considerably, and Bones had caught up on her work. He knew that because the squints had mentioned it. But when he'd expressed his desire to see more of her, she'd lied to him. Said she was still swamped. He'd just stared at her, stunned, and finally managed to answer her. He wasn't even sure what he'd said. He'd been so surprised, she would definitely have noticed it if she hadn't been so busy **not** looking at him. He absently rubbed his chest, as if to dull the pain. Since that conversation, they'd spent almost no time together outside of work. He had thought he was helping her, by giving her the time she needed, but now he wasn't so sure. She was backing away, and quickly - and he was going to have to grab her, hard and fast, if he wanted to keep her. Funny thing was, he knew what had happened – and it had been his fault. Well, not directly, but it was the catalyst, and he'd been the one to insist upon it. It was Date Night. It had been too much for her. He knew she was stubborn, and that she would fight tooth and nail to hide any weaknesses. Add fear to the mix, and it was no wonder Date Night had completely overwhelmed her. He started to berate himself, but stopped with a curse. Why should he heap all the blame on himself? A normal woman would have loved Date Night. A normal woman would be only too happy to discuss her feelings. A normal woman – but Bones wasn't a normal woman, he reminded himself. She'd been abandoned, time and time again. She'd been shunted from one foster home to another, no one caring enough for her to even try to keep her. She'd spent more than a decade hiding all the hurt, all the sorrow – and all the dashed hopes. He could hardly expect her to change overnight. But, damnit, he loved her. He needed her. He gritted his teeth, anger and determination rising in him – then a smile slowly grew. He wasn't about to let her go without a fight. "I guess it's time we had that talk."

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She answered the door, looking as fresh and pretty as the daffodils she loved. Her hair was pulled back in a pert ponytail, and her jeans and yellow T-shirt accented her curves. His mouth dried up completely at the sight of her. _Great Seeley, how are you gonna have The Talk if you have no spit?_ He saw a myriad of emotions flash across her face – four, if he counted correctly – before she went for a casually distracted look. _Need to work on that poker face, Bones._ He argued in his head as to whether he should kiss her or not, then decided to go for it. Hell, he was only human. He stepped in, gathered her close. And laid a quiet, seductive kiss on her lips that had her clutching at his shoulders. He finally forced himself to stop, knowing sex wasn't the answer. Not tonight. "Hey, Bones, whatcha doin'?"

"Oh, I'm just…making some dinner, and then I'm headed back to the office. I have some more work I'd like to finish." She hadn't expected him. He had seemed to be getting the message that she wanted to be alone – which was the exact message she'd been sending. Seeing him here, like this – she beat down the storm of emotions howling inside her and focused on maintaining her calm. "Did you need something?"

He'd thought he would start out slow, ease his way into the conversation. But hearing one more lie uttered in that casual tone cut deep, and sent all his plans flying out the window. "Yeah, I needed to see you. But I can tell from your expression that that's a problem. What's going on here, Bones?"

"What do you mean, what's going on?" He'd blindsided her, was all she could think. She should've expected it – he'd been much more confrontational since the fight about Blaise Redfield. She felt a little trickle of panic, but squashed it as he strode past her into the room. She could handle this. She could handle anything. She closed the door and followed him.

He shot her an angry look, eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb with me, Bones. We both know you're not dumb."

His brusque tone ignited a spark in her, a spark that was slowly growing. "All right, you obviously have something on your mind, so why don't you just say it?" _Please don't say it…please just go…_

"I should think it would be obvious, especially to a genius like you. You know, I didn't want to push you to talk about how you were feeling in the beginning, because I knew how hard it was for you, but it's obvious to me now that I was postponing a conversation you never intended to have at all." He fisted his hands on his hips, angled his head. "I want to know why you're running from what's between us."

Her anger flared, and she drew it around her, carefully stoking it. "I'm not running from anything! There's nothing to talk about - we were sleeping together, and now we're not."

"Oh, I disagree completely. We have plenty to discuss. And we weren't just sleeping together." He saw the flash of knowledge in her eyes, and pressed his point. "I love you." She shook her head, and he grabbed her arms, utterly hurt that she would reject him so completely. "I love you - and you love me."

She pulled back, hard, and won her freedom. She moved carefully away, needing the distance. "You're romanticizing what was a purely sexual situation! Our relationship has reached a logical conclusion."

"Conclusion, my ass. And what we have is **way** more than just sex!" She was slicing into him, her words leaving oozing cuts all over his body, his heart.

"What we **had**, you mean! And your ass has nothing to do with this." she commented waspishly. "That sentence makes no sense." She had to get him to leave, get him angry enough that he would just give up, before she lost control and threw herself at him. And once he was gone it would mean the end of everything. The pain was breathtaking, but behind it was the fear, driving her relentlessly.

He took two steps toward her. "You gonna try and play me again, Bones? Cause as I recall, that didn't go too well for you." His snarling tone cautioned her to tread carefully.

Properly warned, she tried another tack. "I'm simply trying to say that, anthropologically speaking, most sexual relationships are, by nature, finite…" She stopped abruptly, choosing caution as the rage bloomed on his face.

"Oh, now you're gonna go all 'science' on me?" he barked, driven beyond all endurance. His shattered heart spurred him on mercilessly. "I don't recall you spouting any science shit when I was inside you!"

She flinched as if he'd struck her, and the color fled from her face. "No, you're correct about that." It was over, she thought miserably. She suppressed the despair building inside her. She'd be alone. Just as she'd always been. It was better that way. Eventually, she'd do something to ruin what they had, and he'd leave. And she'd never survive that. But no one could leave you if you were already alone. She summoned all her strength and pushed resolutely on, striking a final, fatal blow. "The sex was good, Booth. But that was all it was. I never loved you." _Liar_, her heart whispered fiercely. _Liar__._

The pain danced viciously through him, and he looked at her in shock, torn in two by her response. "How can you say that? How can you lie to me like that?" It was a lie, he knew it was a lie – but that she could actually say it simply destroyed him.

Her heart trembled, then split neatly in half when she saw the misery in his eyes. She hadn't wanted to hurt him – never that - but it was too late now. Too late for everything. "Because it's not a lie - it's the truth."

His rage vanished into thin air, leaving only pain. Horrible, grinding pain. "I guess there's no point in talking about this anymore, if you won't even have the decency to be honest." He turned, suddenly exhausted, and walked to the door. He paused, his hand on the jamb. "I'll see you at work tomorrow."

The sound of the door closing echoed in the room, then faded. She stood, arms wrapped around herself, alone with the choice she'd made.


	9. Chapter 9

**I just couldn't leave it there. It hurt too much. And sleep's overrated, anyway.  
**

**EVE**

He drank when he got home – not to the point of being drunk, but just enough to dull the pain a little bit, so he could think. He needed to be able to think, to come up with a plan. Even with everything that had happened, everything they'd said, and despite the pain, he wasn't giving up on her. Not by a long shot. When some of his plans began to include tossing Bones over his shoulder and locking her in his apartment, he'd known his brain was shot and had stumbled off to bed, prepared to toss and turn the rest of the night.

He'd thought he'd never sleep – maybe never sleep again, but surprisingly, he was out the minute his head hit the pillow. Strange, disembodied fragments of dreams drifted in his head, dominated by a pair of bright blue eyes. In his sleep he reached out, his subconscious knowing what his heart desired.

He awoke on high alert and sat up, eyes tensely searching the room for a threat. Then he saw her, standing in the corner, her features obscured by the murky shadows. He relaxed, instantly recognizing her, even in the darkness - but he raised his defenses, and pushed hope to the background. She had the power to hurt him, worse than anyone else, with just a word - or lack of a word.

"Temperance. Why are you here?" He tried to keep the pain, the emotions, out of his voice, but failed miserably.

"I tried. I was angry. So I tried. I listened to music, talked to Angela, worked on some old cases." Her voice was emotionless, dull, almost as if she was discussing the cases themselves. She took a quiet step forward, and a shaft of moonlight illuminated her, the eerie light and her stillness making her appear sculpted of alabaster. "I even considered drinking. I know you've done that before, when you're trying to forget something." Another step, and only her face was visible. Her icily pale eyes reflected the glow, making her appear otherworldly. The tired smudges under her eyes appeared darker in the moonlight. "But I didn't have anything to drink."

He tried to get a sense of her, what she was feeling, but for once her face was revealing nothing. Studying her, he kept his mouth shut. If, finally, she was actually willing to talk, he'd let her. Then they'd see what they'd see.

"So, I find myself at an impasse. I don't want you but I do. I don't want to be here, but I can't stay away. Why can't I stay away?" For a moment, the veneer cracked and raw emotion seeped into her voice. Then it was gone, and she sounded merely bewildered, like a child hearing the word no for the first time.

"Temperance." His earlier decision already forgotten, he held out his hand. "Come here."

She hid her hands behind her back, the move at once childish and desperate. "No, I don't want to. I want you to stop it. Whatever you did to me, you need to stop it." The first tear carved an icy path down her cheek.

He closed his eyes, pity warring with hurt inside him. "I can't stop, Temperance. All I did was love you, and I can't stop loving you. I couldn't if I wanted to."

"You have to stop - I want you to stop." Her voice was thick with unshed tears. "If you stop, then I can stop, and everything will be normal again." She wrapped her arms around herself and took a step back in retreat as he half rose from the bed. Her voice was an aching whisper. "Please stop…"

"Temperance…" he kneeled, held his hand out to her again. He knew it was now or never - he had to risk it all. "Don't you know, Temperance? Haven't you realized, finally, how it is for me? I need you. I **need** you. When I'm with you - **that's** normal for me. It's like breathing, being with you. I can't survive without you." He was baring his soul to her - he knew it, and he knew it was foolish, but he couldn't help it. He was unable to resist her - her weakness and vulnerability, her strength and determination. Everything she was called out to everything in him. That was how it had always been, and how it always would be. He would never let her go, never.

Tears poured down her face at his words, her eyes wide, searching. She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. In her rush to end things before she ruined what they had, she realized she'd done the very thing she'd been determined to avoid. She saw now how much she'd hurt him. She'd been terrified, and had lashed out at him – the only person who would never leave her. She'd been so unfair to him, so cruel. But he was still here, reaching for her, and she realized in an instant that he was the special one, that she was only special because he loved her. Every milestone she'd reached, every big emotional evolution - he had been there. He held her every thought and emotion close to him, and protected her from anyone who would do her harm. But no one had ever needed her before; no one had ever said those words to her. The icy fist clutching her chest loosened, letting in a flood of warmth. Even more than his words of love, these words - his weakness for her, his need for her, made her finally realize the full scope of his feelings. He would never let her down, not ever. He would always love her. He needed her - like she needed him.

At the sight of her tears, his heart broke, fresh cracks over the old, and he began to move, determined to hold her, comfort her. Keep her. In the next instant, she was on the bed, in his arms, holding on tightly, desperately. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, please..."

He stroked her hair, her back, whispered words of comfort and love. He felt the aching wound inside him begin to heal as he held her close. The rush of relief was so strong, so overwhelming, that he felt dizzy. Then her mouth was on his, and he reeled at the sensation as she poured everything into the kiss. She was dragging at her clothes, murmuring against his lips, and he could barely keep up with her. She fastened her lips on his jaw, and he moaned. Then hissed as she set her teeth on his neck. He began to feel her desperation, and his desire rapidly roared to life. He ran his hands over her body, savoring the soft curves, the shapely hollows. They were kneeling on the bed, center to center, and he knew if anyone came in the room now he wouldn't be able to lift a hand to stop them. He craved her, thirsted for her in a way he knew he never had before and never would again, not for anyone else.

She shoved him, and, off-balance, he fell backwards. Her clothes finally gone, she crawled to him, leaning over him. She ran her lips up and down his body, tasting, seeking, as if she could never get enough. Barraged by the sensations, he reached for her, but she eluded his grasp, slithering down his body. In the next instant his eyes flashed wide, body tensing as she put her mouth on him. He fell back with a loud groan, rendered completely helpless, hips bucking, hands fisting. His heart thundered loudly in his head, drowning out the racket already there. She seemed to instinctively know his limit, and moved back up his body to place a hot, needy kiss on his lips. He sat up, pulling her close to him, and she straddled him.

His hands gripped her hips, lifted her, pulled her down on him. She uttered a choked gasp as he thrust completely, deeply inside her in one smooth motion. Their lips met again, tongues dipping, swirling. She gripped his hair and pulled his head back. She was bathed in moonlight, gilded silver against his body. His eyes locked on hers, and he knew he'd never see anything as beautiful, ever again. Then he _saw _it in her eyes, and his heart slammed hard in his chest, once, twice.

Her lips trembled, curved, parted. "I love you." Her eyes were flaming with it, her body trembling from it. She watched everything in him gather and focus at the sound of her words, and realized she'd been the biggest of fools. "I love you, Booth." As she said the words again, she felt power, absolute power whip through her, and knew she'd never be afraid again.

He closed his eyes on a savage rush of emotion, the reality of hearing the words so much more overpowering than he could ever have imagined. The last cut on his heart healed over, and he finally felt whole again. He opened his eyes, needing to see her, to watch her as they made love.

Slowly, she rose, lowered, her hips undulating seductively against him. She set a siren's rhythm, driving him mad with her provocative movements. He was gasping into her mouth, a willing participant in her sensual assault of him. His hands clutched her hips roughly as she writhed against him; his strong fingers digging into the tender flesh. His mouth sought and found a soft nipple, tasting hungrily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hips plunging tirelessly, mouth ravaging ceaselessly. Their tempo increased, along with the urgency; all the while she whispered her love to him, knowing she could never say it enough, never hear it enough. His arms whipped around her waist, dragged her tight against him, setting up a delicious friction that drove them both mad. The sensation proved too much for her; she gasped, cried out as the hard wave battered her. He thrust wildly up into her, her convulsions triggering his own brutal release.

As the strength ebbed from them, he again fell backward, pulling her with him. They lay together, still joined, hearts thundering in tandem, slick bodies pressed tightly together. As the din faded from his head, he realized that she was still whispering to him, chanting the words as if they were a mantra. He felt his lips pull back, hardly realizing that he was smiling. He lifted her head, meeting her eyes. She stilled, lashes blinking, waiting.

"I love you, Temperance."

She returned his smile, fully, without reservation, finally able to accept the words as well as give them. She touched her lips to his, gently. "I love you, Booth." She dropped her head back to his chest, happily listening to his heart beating against her.

He stared into the darkness, a mirror image of a night several days past. His hand stroked her back tenderly, tirelessly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, you guys have been really wonderful, giving great reviews - and not lynching me for the last couple of chapters. They were a little intense...so here's a small breather for you guys. Enjoy!**

**EVE**

"Oh, God…" Booth flopped on the couch, flinging his arm up to cover his eyes. "I can't believe you actually wanted to go to work today – and I can't believe you made **me** go to work today." He peered at her from under his hand. "I swear we only got about two hours of sleep last night. Why couldn't we have stayed home, just this once?"

She strolled over to him, bottle of beer in hand. "I had a lot of work to do – and if I have to go to work, so do you." She looked down at him, then rolled her eyes at his pitiful expression and handed the bottle to him.

He grinned, took a swig from the bottle. He'd only had to make puppy dog eyes **once** to get the beer from her – she **must** love him. "I swear, Bones, I followed a silly little – **teenager** – into no less than ten stores today – **ten**! And they were all these weird stores with - bows, and bags that hold little rat dogs, and – **hair bands**!"

"I don't understand." She perched on the sofa arm, frowning quizzically. "Why were you shopping with her?"

"I wasn't shopping with her! She's the daughter of some foreign bigwig, and yours truly drew the short straw and had to **escort** her to the **mall**…" Closing his eyes, he took another long swallow of beer and toed off his shoes. "I'd rather face a maniac with a machine gun, any day." He turned a pained expression up to her. "Do you know I got sprayed with perfume **three times** today?"

"Well, you do smell very nice – rather like a candy store…" She saw the intent in his eyes as they slowly opened and hastily stood, putting distance between them. "Are you hungry? I ordered Hop Lee on the way home; it should be here any minute."

"Yeah, that sounds good – I'm starving. And maybe I can just close my eyes until it gets here…" His eyes drifted shut, but flew open again when she twisted his toe. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You can get drinks for us while I change." She turned her back on him, unbuttoning her blouse as she went. "I'll be right out."

His eyes stayed open and followed her progress, and he caught a flash of pale skin as she disappeared into the bedroom. "Hmm, maybe I'm not so tired after all…" He bounced up off the couch and had taken two steps toward the bedroom when the doorbell rang. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, groaning in annoyance. "They take **forever** every time we order, and the one time I **want** them to be late…" He sighed, threw his hands up and headed for the door.

By the time Brennan came back out, the rich smell of sauces and spices filled the air. Heading for the kitchen, she paused, frowning, seeing that he wasn't there. She turned her head and spotted him sitting on the living room floor, food spread on a tablecloth he'd placed on the floor. She wandered over, staring in amazement at him. "What are you doing?"

His tie was gone, and he'd rolled his sleeves up to keep his shirt clean. "I thought we'd have a carpet picnic."

"A carpet picnic?" She sat on the couch. "What's a carpet picnic?"

"Bones, you've never had a carpet picnic?" He handed her an egg roll as she shook her head. "Well, first of all, you don't sit on the couch." He grabbed her hand, pulling her onto the floor. "See, you sit here, and we eat off of the 'picnic blanket', and voila!" He grinned, handing her another beer. "Carpet picnic."

She smiled, enjoying him. "I can see you'll be teaching me some new terms…"

He placed his hands on the tablecloth and stretched forward over it, leaning close to her. He smiled, his eyes glowing. "Oh, I'll be teaching you all sorts of things…" He leaned in for a quick, thorough kiss, then sat back and grabbed a pair of chopsticks.

She fought to level her pulse, and shot him a confident look. "Perhaps I'll teach you a thing or two, as well…" She smiled innocently as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Whoa, Bones…!" His mouth dropped open, and then he smiled, laughing at himself and her. "We're gonna kill each other in a month…"

"I'm game if you are…" She brought the chopsticks to her mouth, knowing he was watching her, and slowly, seductively ate a bite of shrimp, lazily licking her lips. "Mmm…"

He felt a sweat break out on his brow. "Bones, you're killing me **now**." He gulped down the beer, hoping it would cool his overtaxed system.

She shot him another sexy look, and then she was just his partner again, laughing at him. "If I'd known that was the way to get an advantage over you, I'd have used it years ago."

"Don't think you didn't…" He shook his head. "Never mind, I can't talk about this now. If I do we'll never eat, and I'm hungry."

They ate in companionable silence for a time. After a few minutes, she spoke again. "I've been analyzing the arguments we were having over the past few weeks. I've come to the conclusion that neither of us knew what we wanted."

Distracted by this new idea, he glanced up. "Hmm? How's that?"

"Well…" She gestured with her chopsticks. "You drew the line, and then became angry at me because you wanted to cross it. I tempted you until you crossed the line, and then I ran from you." Her lips twitched in amusement. "It would appear that we were both a bit…conflicted."

He chewed quietly for a moment, pondering her statement. "You know, you're not wrong. I managed to completely fuck up the situation, but good. That line, Bones? Not one of my better moments." Searching for the right way to explain how he'd felt, he dragged his hand through his hair. "I was so...screwed up after the whole Epps deal. Every single person I loved was in danger because of me." Seeing her open her mouth, he waved her off. "I know, stupid, and inaccurate, but it was how I felt at the time. It seemed to me, giving up my loved ones in order to keep them safe was the most rational course of action." He responded to the disbelief in her eyes. "Yeah, I should know better than to try and be rational; that's not really what I'm about. But after I drew the line? Well, for a while I felt better. Not long, though. See, I didn't draw the line because of Cam, Bones; I drew it for you."Her eyes were wide and stunned, her mouth agape in surprise. He chuckled inwardly. Not often did Temperance Brennan look like that.

"For me? But, Booth, you never said -"

"Of course I didn't, Bones. What should I have said? 'Hey Bones, guess what, I'm in love with you, but now I have to protect you, so we can't be together'? Screwed up, remember? I was a mess - it was the only way I felt comfortable, like I had some control."

"You said that you didn't feel better for long."

"Yeah," he sighed, chagrined, "there's that. About a month after the dust settled, Angela said something to you on the platform, just as I stepped into the lab. I don't know what she said; I couldn't hear her. You laughed - not just a smile and a roll of your eyes. You threw your head back and laughed out loud, your eyes shining so brightly I could see it from across the room." His tone took on a hint of wonder. "I'd never seen you like that before."

"Wait." Her faced stilled as she searched her memory. "I remember that day. But I didn't see you - as I recall, I was surprised. We were supposed to go to lunch, but you called and said you were detained in a meeting and couldn't make it. I thought it was unusual - you **never **miss lunch."

"I left. Turned around and walked right back out, called the office and told them I was going home sick. I couldn't do it," he said with sudden vehemence, revisiting the almost-forgotten emotions. "I couldn't sit across the table from you or work at my desk as if everything was okay. I realized at that point just how much of a mess I'd made of everything. And it was too late; I couldn't fix it. I was going to have to find a way to deal with it." Embarrassed, he ducked his eyes, laughing self-deprecatingly. "Obviously, that didn't work too well."

"Oh, Booth..." She sighed, prepared to be honest with him. "I didn't do much better than you. I excelled at pretending everything was alright, that I didn't want you, when all the time I wanted you so badly it hurt." Embarrassed to be caught using dramatic figures of speech, she hesitated, glancing at him. Seeing the empathy and caring in his eyes, she felt strong enough to continue. "I looked at you every day, and told myself that someone like you would never want someone like me, that I was no good at anything but my job. I worked every day, and stopped myself from telling you how I felt over and over. It was very hard for me, because I am usually very frank. I thought if I denied it for long enough, it would go away, and you'd find someone and be happy." This time she stopped him, as he prepared to interrupt, a strong denial on his lips. "It wasn't any more rational an idea than yours, and I'm **supposed** to be the rational one in our partnership."

"Ah, Bones." Leaning forward again, he snagged her hand and tugged it to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss in the palm. "Thank God neither of our plans worked." They ate in silence for another moment before he looked up at her again, eyes twinkling mischievously. "That's it, then. We must be meant for each other." At her questioning glance, he continued. "We're both crazy."

Her lips parted on an exasperated laugh. "**I'm** not crazy! **You** might be, but I know for a fact that I'm a perfectly sane, rational human being."

"Yeah, you're sane, for sure." He snorted out a laugh. "'Cause a sane person **always** plays with skeletons…"

"Hey!" Without thinking, she threw her pot of duck sauce at him, then watched in horror as the top came loose when it hit him square in the chest. "Oh…"

He tipped his head down, studied the yellow sauce dripping down his formerly clean shirt. Without a word, his eyes darted up, locking on her.

"Oh, Booth, I'm so sorry…" She broke off abruptly, biting her lips as a laugh began to bubble up in her. He really looked so **ridiculous**; the entire contents of the pot were on the front of his shirt. She struggled to remain sober, but watching him attempt to mop up the mess with one little cocktail napkin was just too much. She burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face as she giggled at the sight of him. "Your nice clean shirt, I really am sorry…" She dissolved into laughter again, pressing her hands against her sides. Suddenly, her laughter turned into a gasp as something wet and slimy hit her shirt – and her neck. She reached up, her fingers coming away covered in plum sauce. She glared at him, outraged, as he roared with laughter. "Booth! This shirt is new!"

He smiled evilly. "You're rich – buy another one."

Her jaw jutted out, and her eyes narrowed ominously. "It was handmade for me in Peru…"

"So, have another one made! You can afford it!" He laughed again, until he saw the dripping spare rib clutched in her fist. He pointed his finger at her. "No! Bones, **do not throw that at** –" He broke off as the rib landed with a wet _splop_ in his lap. He surveyed his ruined trousers with disbelief, then scowled at her, his eyes gleaming. "Okay, Bones, you wanna do this - let's do it." He quickly scooped up a handful of General Tso's and flung it at her. She ducked, but not quickly enough, and the food landed in her hair, sliding down the side of her face.

A combative light flared in her eyes, and she lunged at him, catching him off-guard and knocking him backward. Before he could roll away, she mashed the handful of her tofu dinner against his face, making sure it went in his mouth. She smiled with wicked satisfaction - he **hated** tofu. His hands shot up, grabbed her arms. She landed with a splash in a pile of lobster sauce, and they were wrestling, covered in food, laughing hysterically. They were evenly matched, the slippery sauces keeping each from getting a good grip on the other. She used the slick sauces and her agility to her advantage, finally managing to grapple him to the floor. She straddled him, sitting on him to keep him from slithering away, and dumped the second pot of plum sauce in his hair. He was **covered**, they were both covered in food from head to toe. She burst out laughing again, and he grinned up at her, sauce dripping down the side of his face.

She looked down at him, panting. "Do you give up?"

He tilted his head, studying her. "Now, **why** would I give up?"

"Because I won!" She sneered at him, enjoying the moment. "I beat you, Booth…"

He lifted his hips slightly, bucking against her, and then sat partly upright. "**Did** you win, Bones? 'Cause I'm thinking I'm right where I wanted to be…" He saw her eyes darken, and she leaned toward him, a flirty little grin on her lips. As her lips brushed his he grabbed her arms, then kicked off and rolled back, flipping them both and trapping her underneath him. Before she could struggle he pinned her against the floor, rubbing slowly against her. He leaned close and sucked a drop of sauce off her neck, pleased with her quick tremor. "Now I get to do what I was tempted to do during our first fight…"

"What?" she asked breathlessly, her pulse racing madly.

"Toss you over my shoulder." In a blur of motion he pulled her up and threw her on his shoulder. She laughed, both amused and aroused. "Okay, Bones, shower time." He strode toward the bathroom, ignoring her as she punched his back playfully. He stepped directly into the shower and turned the water on full blast, gripping her tighter as she struggled in his arms.

"Booth – it's cold! Let me go!" She pinched his side, twisting sharply. "C'mon, Booth, put me down!"

He let her slide onto her feet, then pulled her tight against him. The water was hot now, and steam was beginning to rise around them. "Oh, by the way, Bones, there's something I meant to ask you to do today."

She shoved her wet hair out of her face. "What?"

He leaned close, smiling dangerously. "Scream for me."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks again for all your wonderful comments - they really do mean the world to me. They make writing this story worthwhile!**

**Once again, it's the middle of the night, so I apologize if there are any typos - but I think you'll get the drift...enjoy!**

**EVE**

She was shivering now, but it wasn't from the water. Her eyes, full of awareness, met his. The steam and tension swirled slowly, lazily around them, surrounding them.

His hand gently stroked her cheek. "See, you screamed for me, that first time. I have dreams about that scream…I want to hear it again." He took a step forward, and his body bumped into hers. He nudged her intimately, his hips rubbing against hers, and watched with satisfaction when she trembled for him. Every spare moment today, I thought of you …and when I thought of you, I thought of all the things I wanted to do with you. Do **to **you. So, I thought I'd show you just what I was thinking. I hope you're not tired," he drawled, shaking his head, his fingers lightly stroking her body, "because this might take a while."

With a quick flex of his shoulders, he yanked off his shirt and flipped it over the shower rod. Distracted by the sight of wet male, she didn't realize his pants had followed until her gaze drifted down… Startled, her eyes shot back to his as she remembered she was still fully clothed. Desire flared within her as she watched him watch her. In a reverse of a night not so long ago, he stood exposed before her, brazenly allowing her to look her fill. That he was aroused, there was no doubt, and his intention was clear - but exactly what he would do next, she couldn't begin to guess. The uncertainty only added to the already taut atmosphere. This was the Booth she was unfamiliar with, the stranger who'd appeared that first day. She didn't know what he would do, but she knew she wanted to be with him.

When he continued to do nothing but stare at her, she frowned, wondering what game he was playing. She felt her mouth gather into a pout; she couldn't help herself. Then she saw the invitation in his eyes, and realized what he wanted. He wanted **her** to play. She touched him, hands drifting, head spinning. She reveled in the feel of him; her fingers dragged along his skin, pressing and sliding along the ridges of muscle. Her touch danced lower, and he hissed, teeth gritted. She felt his quick, hard tremor and smiled, knowing she wasn't the only one affected. Leaning in, she buried her face in his neck and inhaled, filling her lungs with his scent. She'd missed this, the feel and smell of him. The taste of him. She closed her lips over his earlobe and sucked, drawing the soft flesh into her mouth. A deep rumble sounded in his chest, and at last his hands came to her.

He pressed his palms to her back, bringing her firmly against him for a long, long, gentle kiss. Her blood began to churn sluggishly in her veins, as the kiss went on and on, and his hands began to stray. Finally he put her from him, smiling at her small sound of disappointment. "Take off your clothes."

She complied instantly, eagerly, her shirt dropping onto the floor with a wet slap. The jeans were harder – she wiggled and stretched, but to no avail. The wet fabric barely budged. She looked at him in dismay. "They won't come off."

He smiled darkly and angled his head, eyes greedily taking her in. "Let me help." His hand gripped her upper arm, and without warning he spun her around and pressed her against the wall. The shock of the cold tile against her bare skin was only equaled by the feel of his fingers deftly peeling the soaked denim down her legs. His shoulder was against the small of her back – she was trapped, unable to move. Then, just as she was free of the jeans, he moved. She pushed off the wall and took a step back, but before she could turn his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her abruptly back against him, and he plunged his fingers into her. Her loud, urgent moan surrounded them, and her knees buckled. Her sudden limpness only increased his fervor. He shoved his leg between hers, taking control of her body, his fingers stroking, stroking. Her head rapped back on his shoulder, hips bucking, jerking. Her erotic movements and the soft, urgent noises coming from her throat filled him with an almost violent madness. Crazed, he set his teeth on her shoulder, nipping firmly, absorbing every moan, every shudder.

She couldn't get enough oxygen. She sucked in lungful after lungful of hot, steamy air, but it wasn't enough. Her mind's eye saw the two of them wrapped together, and that added to her arousal. At another time she might be shocked at her uninhibited, wanton behavior, but now she didn't care. She wanted **more**. Whatever he would give her, she wanted. The water beat down on them, stunningly hot. He was rocking with her, matching her desperate movements and spurring her on.

His arm was locked around her, fingers deep inside her, stroking her, driving her. Desperate, drunken moans were falling from her lips, but it wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be enough. He whispered, an intimate request close to her ear. "I want you to scream, remember, Temperance?" Will you scream for me?" When she didn't answer, but simply continued to cry wildly, he slid his hand from her waist up her torso, fingers sliding across a sensitive nipple. Then she **did** scream, the sound bouncing loudly off the tiles as the shock waves rippled through her. He smiled, brutally aroused, and more than pleased with her response. He dropped a kiss onto her shoulder before turning her to face him.

By the time she became aware of her surroundings again, she was in his arms, her head on his shoulder as he embraced her. She was grateful for his support – without it, she knew she would have simply folded up onto the floor of the shower. They quietly clung together under the spray, swaying slightly. As energy flooded back to her, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, whispering her love to him. He shifted, and her back was against the wall, she was pinned tight by his hard, muscular body. They looked at each other for a long moment, and his hand slid around behind her, long fingers curling tightly around one firm buttock. He caressed her soft curves, his eyes glowing down at her. He lowered his head and exhaled, his hot breath dancing around her nipple, and her breath caught when his tongue tasted her sensitive flesh. As he straightened, he looped her leg over his arm, and even as her mouth dropped open in surprise he thrust into her. She bit her lip, whimpering, the feeling almost unbearable.

His hands were impatient and bold on her body. He watched the erotic responses cross her face as he stroked into her, as he took her. Her eyes were soft, unfocused, and fixed intently on him. "Hold onto me, don't let go…" Her hands moved to his shoulders, slipped, then held, her nails digging into his skin. He cursed, the pinpricks of pain only adding to his pleasure. They moved together, mingled gasps and groans filling the room, filling their heads.

He was surging into her, loving her, and she couldn't get enough. "I can't think when you touch me. Don't stop touching me…" When he smiled and traced her lower lip with his fingertip, she opened her mouth, tongue sliding out, and slowly drew his finger in.

His eyes widened, and he began to thrust harder, an uncontrollable urge rushing through him. "Christ, Temperance, oh, God…" He tucked her leg higher, and to his amazement, felt her other leg wrap around his waist. "Jesus…" He pounded into her repeatedly, all restraint gone, his only desire to be inside her, with her forever. She was wrapped so tightly around him, arms and legs, that he simply braced his arms on the wall and went wild, driving her into the tiles again and again. He felt her begin to quake against him, gripping him even tighter, and he cursed and bucked, the orgasm nearly splitting him in two. Gasping for air, he leaned against the wall, his legs shaking, and held onto her, praying he wouldn't drop her. Slowly, his system returned to normal. When he felt her shaking, he looked at her quickly, concerned she was crying. But she was laughing, her eyes alight with love and humor. "What's so funny?"

She grabbed his hair, pulling his head forward for a very thorough kiss. When they finally stopped to breathe, she tilted her head backward, leaning against the wall. "You were right."

He frowned, trying to remember what he'd said. "About what?"

Her tongue darted out to carefully trace his lips, and she smiled triumphantly, writhing seductively against him until he groaned. "We are definitely going to kill each other rather quickly, at this pace." She gave him a searing, eye-popping kiss, tongue swirling and playing until he moaned and began to move in her again.


	12. Chapter 12

EVE

**EVE**

"This music is too loud!"

"What?"

"I said –" Rather than shout at Brennan again, Angela simply put her hands over her ears with a slightly pained look on her face.

"Oh, yes – it is very loud! It's also not very good!" Brennan sipped her beer and glanced over at Booth and Hodgins, who were involved in a conversation – or argument, she wasn't sure which - with a group of men about large-screen televisions. He seemed oblivious to the noise, but he was most likely accustomed to being in situations such as this. She turned her attention back to Angela, who had already forgotten her complaint about the noise level and was happily moving to the music. She smiled, as always enjoying her friend's optimism. Of course, Angela had been in an especially good mood to begin with. Several weeks prior, Brennan had finally admitted to her relationship with Booth, which made her friend jump up and down in romantic triumph. Since then, Angela had been after her to ask Booth to spend an evening out with her and Hodgins. Finally, no longer able to ignore the harassment, she had casually mentioned it to Booth. She had not expected him to agree, so his ready acceptance had surprised her. The evening had been a success, as had the following two outings. Unfortunately, tonight was not going quite so smoothly. The bar Angela and Hodgins liked so much had apparently had a change in owners – the clientele was decidedly rougher than they remembered, and the band only played classic rock - as loud and badly as possible. She knew her ears would be ringing for days.

Another small fly in Brennan's evening was the woman. Tall and shapely, with long, curling blonde hair and full red lips, she was cruising the bar, flirting with any man who happened to look her way. Angela had taken one long, disdainful look at her, rolled her eyes, and mouthed a disparaging – and entirely accurate - descriptive word to Brennan. Unfortunately, Brennan was not able to ignore the girl as easily as Angela, since she had taken up permanent residence at Booth's elbow. Bubbly and outgoing, she had slipped seamlessly into conversation with the men, who enjoyed her beauty and wit and completely missed the sharp, calculating look in her eyes. To his credit, Booth had barely glanced at her, and had met her overtures with absent politeness. As the evening progressed, however, the large amount of drinks she was consuming were emboldening her, and she had started leaning on Booth, looping her arm through his. Each time he removed his arm she would wait a few moments and lean again, her long red nails clutching at him.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" Angela grabbed Brennan's arm, pulling her close so as to avoid screaming. She was concerned about Brennan – she'd quickly dismissed the woman, but it appeared her friend was not able to do the same. She didn't appear upset, necessarily, but she'd been quietly watching her – almost as if she was a smear on a lab slide.

Brennan's blue eyes flicked to Angela, then back to the woman. "I'm fine, Angela." She wasn't actually sure she was fine – unfamiliar feelings were twisting inside her. She couldn't pinpoint the reason, other than the fact that it had something to do with the blonde woman.

"Listen, ignore her. I see her type all the time – well, maybe not quite **this** pushy – but I've seen it before. And with Booth – well, they just can't help it. His eyes could drop a girl at twenty paces." She laughed when Brennan looked over, amused at her comment. "What? You know Booth is a **major** stud muffin – don't tell me you haven't thought so yourself." She smiled when she saw the faint blush on Brennan's cheeks, the slight curve of the lips. "Yeah, that's what I figured. Anyway, don't let her get to you. He wants **you** – and from what I can tell, he wants you **all the time**." She fanned herself at the thought. "Besides, you can see he's ignoring her."

She looked at Angela again, bemusement crossing her face. "Yes, he is, but I'm confused – if he doesn't want her there, why doesn't he just tell her to leave?"

"Because he's a gentleman, Bren. Booth would never be so rude to a woman – and, well, he's a coward. All guys are cowards when it comes to this type of thing. He's probably hoping she'll just go away on her own, and then he won't have to do anything. If you want, we can go over and shove in front of her, snuggle up to the guys. You wanna?"

"No thanks, Ange. I find the whole conversation about televisions very boring. How can men find so much to discuss about electronic equipment?"

Angela smiled, a big wide grin. "That, my friend, is one of the many mysteries of life. So, back to the good stuff – tell me all about you and Booth. Is he **really **romantic when he's with you? And since you've finally admitted the hot-ness of Seeley Booth, tell me – what's your favorite body part of his?"

"Angela! I'm not going to talk about this!" Brows lifted, she looked at her friend, amazed and slightly amused at her behavior. Angela had been hounding her for details ever since she told her about Booth. It was like being squeezed by a very friendly vise.

"Oh, come **on**, Sweetie – do you know **how long **I've been waiting for this to happen? You **have** to give me **something**…please!" Angela wrung her hands pleadingly in front of her, her face the very picture of painful anticipation.

Laughing, Brennan relented. "Okay, okay, I give up, Angela. You win."

Angela squealed, hugging her. "Yay! Details, please!"

She took a large gulp of beer, wishing she wasn't so fair-skinned. She knew her complexion was giving her away. "He's very romantic – more romantic than anyone I've ever dated. He's actually quite old-fashioned, to tell the truth."

"And you're surprised by that?" Angela rolled her eyes. "Brennan, that man is the original Knight in Shining Armor – and you can spout your little feminist heart off 'til the cows come home, but you can't fool me." She beamed mischievously. "You kinda like it when he's like that, don't you?"

"Well…" A small smile crept across her face, betraying her. "Sometimes it can be…rather enjoyable." Immediately regretting her incautious admission, she grabbed Angela's arm. "Don't tell anyone I told you that!"

Angela sighed, closing her eyes. "Don't worry – I won't tell a soul, I promise. Oh, I'm so proud of you, Brennan!"

She frowned, confused. "Proud of me – why?"

"Because you're finally really, truly happy – and you're holding onto it. Do you know how great that is?" She looked at Brennan, tears in her eyes. "For years I've watched you close yourself away, denying yourself any real, lasting connections. There was nothing I could do, and it broke my heart to watch you move from one temporary relationship to the next. But now – now you're with The One. Booth is The One." At Brennan's expression, she shot her a pointed look. "I explained The One to you, remember? So you better hold onto him, okay?" she finished fiercely, trying not to cry. "Because you deserve him. And he deserves you."

Brennan threw her arms around Angela, squeezing tightly. "I love you Angela. Thank you so much." She was grateful to have such a wonderful friend, even if she did pry a little too much. They clung together, and then broke apart, sniffling suspiciously.

Angela ran a finger under her eye. "Oh, God, I have to fix my makeup. I'm going to the Ladies - wanna come with?"

Without looking, Brennan knew that the woman was once again reaching for Booth. "No, I'll stay here. Would you like another drink?"

"No thanks, I've had enough for tonight. Be right back!"

She turned back, silently observing, eyes narrowed, jaw set. As she'd expected, the woman was clinging to Booth, and had now progressed to rubbing up against him. She could see he was becoming slightly uncomfortable - when he received a phone call, he jumped to answer it, stepping outside to talk. She immediately approached the woman, threading her way around several people. Leaning over, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me." The woman swung around, swaying slightly. "Please stop what you're doing."

The blonde aimed belligerent eyes at Brennan. "What are you talking about?"

"The man you've been trying to attract - he's not interested in you."

She was instantly antagonized. "What the hell business is it of yours who I talk to?" Her nails clicked impatiently on the bar, and a disagreeable expression crossed her face.

She hesitated, thinking that perhaps she had used the wrong words. She thought for a second, and then revised her approach. "Please leave him alone. He's unavailable."

"Unavailable? What are you, his receptionist? I don't want to call him; I just want to have some fun with him. Besides, I didn't see any ring on his finger - so why don't you go answer some phones or something, and leave us alone so we can get to know each other better."

"Not all romantic relationships are defined by nuptials and rings – he happens to be in a relationship with me. I'm not going anywhere, but I believe it would be best for all involved if you moved to the other side of the bar."

Bristling, the blonde threw a malicious glare at her. "There's no way he would ever be with a cold stick like you. I'm going to take him home, and you can go to hell. As soon as he comes back, I'll show you how a real woman does it…"

Brennan tilted her head, her icy blue eyes dissecting the woman. "That would be an inadvisable course of action."

"Look, Swenson, nothing can be done tonight anyway. Why don't you just line up the paperwork for Judge Lewis, and when he's back on Monday we'll present our case to him. The final decision's gonna rest with him, no matter what we do." Booth dragged his hand through his hair, suppressing the urge to sigh. Or curse. "What else?…I don't know, what does the ballistics report say?" Pacing in a slow circle, he glanced in the window and then paused, his gaze sharpening. He had a clear view of Bones and that woman who'd been chatting with them, and they seemed to be having some sort of discussion. No longer paying attention to the conversation at hand, he focused on the two of them. Something was wrong with Bones – her body language was funny. Funny bad. The other girl was obviously intoxicated, and she was talking about something, an ugly look on her face. W_hat could she be saying that would upset Bones so much?_ "What? I'm sorry, hold on a minute…" Distracted, he craned his neck, trying to see around a group of men that had blocked his view. What the hell was going on? The woman had been hanging on him a little bit, but that couldn't be the problem. The one thing Bones had in spades was confidence. _I'd better get in there before things get out of hand. _"Look, Swenson, I have to go, there's a problem here. I'll talk to you on Monday." Flipping his phone shut, he jogged toward the door. Once inside, he made his way directly to Brennan.

As soon as she saw him, she turned her back on the woman and grabbed his arm. "I think we should leave. Can we please leave?"

He frowned down at her – she was obviously quite agitated. "Bones, what's going on? Why are you arguing with that woman?"

Strangely, she felt a reluctance to reveal the cause of the altercation. "I promise I'll explain later – but I think it would be best if we went home now."

"Well, yeah, sure, if that's what you want." Completely missing her deep sigh of relief, he leaned over to hand a wad of cash to Hodgins. "Hey, we're gonna head out – Bones is kinda tired."

Although he was surprised at their abrupt departure, he merely nodded at Booth. "Sure, man, no problem. We'll see you Monday."

"Okay, let's go." He grabbed her arm, and without a backward look took her outside. They hopped in the Tahoe, and he eased out of the parking lot and onto the highway.

He said nothing for the first few minutes, until it became apparent that she was not going to say anything. "What was going on back there, Bones? What did she say to you?"

All at once she felt tired, too tired to face him. She needed some time to settle her emotions. Pretending not to hear him, she leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. Booth glanced at her, then sighed and focused on the road. Several moments later, he felt something press against his leg, and looked down to see her hand resting on his thigh. He quickly looked over at her, but her eyes were still shut tight. A small, sympathetic smile grew on his face, and he took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, guys - I'm sorry for the delay in posting - I actually suffered an injury to my hand (no, not from typing so much!), and it's slowed me down a bit. So, I apologize. We're finally coming to the end of this story - I believe there may be only one or two more chapters after this. I can't thank you all enough for your wonderful comments - you have truly honored me with your kind words. For a newbie like myself, it's doubly important - if you are enjoying the story, then I must be doing something right!  
**

**EVE**

He dropped into his armchair, rubbing his face. The ride home had been very long – and very silent. He'd driven the entire way with her hand in his, and when they'd gotten home, she had silently gone in with him. His eyes tracked her now, following her movements as she checked her email, removed her shoes, pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. Waiting for the right time, he stopped her as she started to walk past him. Once again he grabbed her hand, but this time gave it a squeeze and quickly tugged her onto his lap. "Alright, you're thinking too much, and not talking nearly enough - I can see all the thoughts bouncing around in that head of yours. You know, I've noticed that things don't go so well for us when you start thinking this much. Out with it - what's going on?" She didn't immediately reply, and he poked her with his finger. "C'mon, Bones, spill. What was that fight about?"

Hoping to put off the discussion, she peeked at him – and could see by his determined expression that he was going to push until she told him everything. She sighed, wishing for once that he wasn't quite so tenacious. "Well...I saw the way that woman was hanging off of you, and I felt – uncomfortable." Irritably her shoulders lifted, settled. "I didn't like that she approached you in that way."

"You know I wasn't interested in her, right?" he asked. "I like my women with a little something more between their ears than air. I think I've proven that…in fact, I've discovered that lately, I'm very picky - I couldn't be involved with anyone with less than a genius-level IQ." He smiled at her, hoping to ease some of her tension.

Distress swept across her face. "I know you would never…you would never. I didn't think that, Booth. She was behaving inappropriately – I simply mentioned that fact to her, and she became quite hostile." Hesitantly she continued. "I'm not actually sure why it bothered me. I'm not accustomed to feeling that way. I don't know why I **did** feel that way. It's never happened before…in the past, I would have ignored someone like that. It would have meant nothing to me." When he simply stared, waiting, she elaborated. "It was a completely irrational and emotional response to the situation - and that does not happen to me. Logically, I know she can't have any real effect on our relationship - but I was unable to help myself."

Ridiculously moved, he peered lovingly at her. "Bones – don't you know what's different? You're in love now – that makes all the difference in the world. You're not experiencing anything that millions of other people in love haven't felt. It's just a little jealousy – and it's not a big deal, really. I'm not immune to it, myself."

Needing the reassurance of his touch, she reached for him. "You make me feel so many things I've never felt before, Booth. It's not just love – there are other feelings I never thought I'd experience. I thought I was above all of that, but I find I'm not, and I don't know how to deal with it." That she considered what she'd just said an admission of personal failure was obvious. The tense line of her body and the dissatisfaction on her face were clearly evident.

He lifted his hand to her face, watched her press her cheek into his palm. "You talk to me, Bones - that's how you deal with it. You're not alone anymore. That's how people in love manage, how they thrive - they turn to each other. They share, they communicate. That's another part of the miracle I told you about a long time ago. It's another way that two people become one. Bones - all those emotions you keep experiencing? They don't make you flawed - they make you human. If we have the capacity to experience emotion, then don't we have a duty to embrace the feelings, and evolve emotionally? That doesn't mean ignoring them, or burying them deep. It means we let them come, we deal with them. When we do, we become stronger."

She leaned toward him, comforted. "I didn't like that woman – she was very unpleasant."

"Listen, Bones, she was just a little tipsy, and mean with it. You shouldn't let her bother you."

"She was a sad, drunk woman." A frown marred her features. "But she said something else that made me stop and think…"

"And there's that word again." He nudged her with his knee. "Okay, what are you thinking?"

"Her remark about a ring – or your lack of a ring - she had a point. I don't have a claim on you, not a legal claim in the eyes of today's society. What happened tonight will probably keep happening – and apparently I'm not able to deal with it as well as I'd thought. I've been thinking about our relationship, and the long-term outlook. I don't believe in marriage, and I don't want children…"

"Both of which I knew going in…"

"And I don't know if that will ever change. If I ever decided to marry - I could only ever marry you. But I don't know if I'll ever be able to accept that tradition – and I know it's very important to you." Drenched with concern, her eyes held his. "How long would it be before you began to resent me for the lack of a wedding ring? Or the lack of a child? That's your future with me, Booth. There's nothing I can give you, and it's not fair to you. If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're a very traditional man. You deserve the chance to have a happy life, with a wife - and the possibility of children."

The unhappiness was radiating off her – he could feel it. He searched desperately for the words to make her understand how he felt. Suddenly, a shocking realization burst over him, causing a tightness in his chest. Temperance Brennan, supremely confident Temperance Brennan, was unsure of herself when it came to him, to what they had together. He'd been so close to her that he'd missed it initially, but now it was all clear - as clear as her pretty blue eyes. Her hesitancy, her short bursts of shyness, her difficulty communicating with him - it all stemmed from one source. A feeling of almost unbearable tenderness came over him, and he swallowed. He wanted to scoop her up, hold her - but that wasn't what she needed. Not now. All he could do was reassure her, in the best way he could, that she was **it** for him. "Bones, here's how I see it. I already have a child – a wonderful, beautiful child. And as far as marriage…Bones, nothing that we do is normal. Our work life, our home life – nothing. Why should our relationship be any different? It all works because of **us**, because of who we are. If you ever decide you want to marry me, you'll make me the happiest man in the world. If, however, you decide marriage is not the thing for you…" He carefully emphasized his words, making sure she realized the truth of them "…I **know** you'll still make me the happiest man in the world. Hell, I'm so happy I have you, I don't care what you call it." Unable to merely look at her any longer, he pulled her to him, cuddling her against him. "I love you, and you love me. I know you don't believe in marriage - I've always known that. I also know your heart is true. If you're with me, then you're with me. End of discussion. You don't need to prove it to me. I need you to trust that it's the same with me. You, Temperance Brennan - you are what I want. I don't care how I have you - **as long as I have you**. As I said once before, I'm going to have to **insist** on that."

She bumped her forehead against his chest, snuggling close. "I know you love me, but everything just seems so complicated."

The softness of her hair beguiled him, and he rubbed his cheek against her head. "Well, you've got the right word there, Bones - **seems**. All of this, what's going on between us – actually couldn't be simpler. You just have to stop thinking so much."

"Thinking is what I do best, Booth." Frustration seeped into her voice. "If I don't think about things, how would I ever make the right decisions?"

"Thinking's not what you do **best**, Bones, it's just what you do **the most**. Two different things. Try making decisions using your heart, too. It won't steer you wrong – I promise." He drew her tighter to him, tucking his arms around her.

She sighed again, seeming to melt against him. They sat quietly, draped around each other, holding fast. After a time, she spoke again. "I fought against this, against you – I was so scared. I'm sorry, Booth…"

He brushed it away – it didn't matter now. "Nah, no big deal. I figured I'd just let you push and kick against me until you got tired of fighting. Then I'd grab you, and you'd be mine." He tipped her chin, his lips touching hers, temptingly, seductively. "Be mine, Temperance..."

She sank into the kiss, feeling the bands that had been so tight around her finally loosen. Her love for him built and built, becoming something different, even more special than before. Hope rose in her like a dream. "I'm better when I'm close to you – I'm not afraid. Booth - this might happen again – it's hard for me to express how I feel. I hope you can put up with it…"

"I can, as long as you can put up with me prodding you until you talk." He smiled kindly at her. "You know, it's a good thing I like complicated women."

Her lips curved as they met his. "Thank you for your patience with me - I know you're not a patient man…"

He laughed. "Was that a compliment? I think maybe it was…where we're concerned, Bones, I have an ocean of patience - as long as I know we're together."

"I love you." Her hands gently cupped his face. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." She reached up, pressed a kiss against his forehead.

The punch of love hit him so strongly, he couldn't breathe for a moment. Then their lips met, gently catching, pulling, bringing them together in a soft caress. "I love you, Temperance Brennan."

**As always, your kind words are most appreciated!**


	14. Chapter 14

**No, this isn't the last chapter - there will be one more after this. So, enjoy, and I hope you like it!**

**EVE**

Watching scientists scuttle about was like watching ants carry food back to their home – it was chaos, but somehow, everything got done. Booth strode among the Blue-Coats, deftly avoiding collisions with a few over-zealous interns. _Man, it never looks like this at the office…thank God._ Thoughtfully, he propped a very old-looking spear back against the wall, saving it from a damaging trip to the floor. _Seeley Booth, Super Agent to the rescue…_

When he finally reached her door, he paused, leaning against the jamb as he so often did. Temperance-watching seemed to be his favorite new hobby. He laughed at himself, recognizing the weakness, but embracing it all the same. _I may be completely gone, but at least I have her now. Thank God…_ When it became evident that she was completely absorbed in her work, he decided to interrupt. "I _really_ hope you're done…"

She looked up quickly, caught unaware. "Booth!" Gone were the blank expressions, the guarded demeanor. When she saw him, she glowed, and her eyes sparked happily. Haphazardly tapping computer keys, she closed the file and leaned back, smiling at him. "Where have you been? It's already seven-thirty; I've been waiting for you."

Thinking to himself that it was a damn shame that the Jeffersonian wasn't empty right now, he enjoyed her open response. It was amazing, what a few months of being together – **really** together - had done for her She didn't even care who might see her reaction to him. "Oh really?" He lifted one brow, adding just enough innuendo that she colored slightly.

"Not like that, Booth!" When his face fell, she smiled again and waved her hand, gesturing to him. "Come in, I have the results on the case file you gave me." He sat, and she thumbed through the manila folder on the top of her pile. "As you initially suspected, we confirmed the deceased is indeed Evelynne Walstone, age 75."

He sighed impatiently. "Bones, I told you that was who it was. We found her in her own house, after all. The only reason we're even investigating this is at the request of The Department of Defense. Apparently, some bigwig at DOD is Mrs. Walstone's son, and he pulled some strings to get the FBI involved. It's pretty much a no-brainer of a case." He saw the familiar – and occasionally dreaded – obstinate look on her face, and rolled his eyes. "What?"

She adopted her best lecturing tone, knowing her superior manner would annoy him. She just couldn't resist. "Booth, you should know by now not to assume anything. It could have been anyone in that house."

"Except it wasn't, was it?" A large and very irritating grin spread on his face.

She pursed her lips and frowned at him. "Not this time. Cause of death was –"

"A fall, right? We found her at the bottom of the stairs."

"No, the fall was not fatal." Unable to help herself, she smirked at him. At his impatient glare, she relented. "Based on Dr. Saroyan's examination of the remaining tissue, victim suffered a massive heart attack, which caused her to lose consciousness, at which time she fell, causing the secondary injuries. She would have expired within minutes."

"Any idea how long she's been dead?"

"Based on the extent of decomposition, the victim most likely died at least two months ago. Our official report will list death due to natural causes." She flipped the file closed, placing it in her outbox. "Do you have to report to them tonight?"

"It's not mine to report, actually. Mr. Walstone is a friend of Cullen's, so I'll just call Cullen on the way home and fill him in – he wanted to talk to the guy personally." He clapped his hands together, abruptly closing the subject. "So – we can get out of here? ' Cause I am starving! What do you want to eat – Chinese? Italian?"

"Booth, I have so much work to do. I can't just leave…" She saw that her plea was not swaying him, and tried another tactic. "If I go home now, I'll never be able to relax. I'll keep thinking about work..." She broke off and stared at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

A confident chuckle rumbled up from his chest, and he smiled, easily, broadly, as he settled back comfortably in his seat. "Oh, I think I'll be able to help you relax, Bones." His eyes narrowed. "Shall I tell you how?"

Suddenly, the room seemed overly warm, and she just barely resisted fanning herself. A familiar clutching feeling started in her stomach. "Booth!" Hoping to throw him off-balance, she planted her hands on her desk and, standing, leaned forward. A very female feeling of satisfaction hit her as she watched his gaze drop, intensify. "Don't be silly. I have to get a couple files done, and I should be able to leave after that. I'll need another hour – Booth, are you listening?" His eyes rose to hers, and she fought a smile as she realized that her provocative movement had completely distracted him. "You weren't even listening to me!"

"Well, what do you expect, when you wear all those low-cut blousy things?" He held his hands out in front of him, mimicking the shape of an hourglass. "'Cause, you know, you're built like a –"

Her eyes widened. "Booth!" Unable to outmaneuver him verbally, she crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him in frustration.

Although his eyes fired greedily, he remained unfazed. He pinned her with a sizzling, direct stare and smiled slowly. "Don't stick your tongue out unless you're planning on using it."

Her entire body vibrated; she couldn't control it. She began to breathe more quickly. "You shouldn't say things like that at work."

He smiled wider at her breathless words. "Oh? Why not?"

"Because anyone could walk in! What would they think?" She glanced at the door, half expecting to see the entire lab staff eavesdropping.

"Well, I imagine they'd think that we're romantically involved – which we are, so what's the problem? It's not like it's a secret anymore…" He sat back, greatly enjoying the fact that he'd completely flustered her. It was not easy to flummox Temperance Brennan.

Her heart was thumping erratically, shooting blood straight to her cheeks. She exhaled shakily, searching desperately for her normally calm demeanor. "I know, but…well, it's just not something you should say in the workplace. It's not professional."

"So, come with me, and I'll say it to you again – and more. I promise…" Letting his body language do the talking, he watched her tremble, then drop back into her chair. "Changing your mind, Bones?" The nerves and heat kept swirling in her eyes until he began to be affected. "You keep looking at me that way, we're gonna have a problem."

"What? Why?" Her stomach was trembling at the tone in his voice, the promise in his eyes. One look – one look from him, and she was reduced to a quivering mess.

"Well, I imagine there are certain things that shouldn't be **done** in the workplace, either." Outrageously pleased, he watched the awareness settle on her face, saw her pulse throb in her throat. He prayed she didn't actually have a lot of work to do, or he'd be on his way home to take a really long, really cold shower. "So, whatta ya say – are you coming with me now?"

_That report for Cam isn't due until Monday – I could come in on Sunday and finish it. And that seminar for the students at GWU isn't happening for another three weeks. I could start writing the lecture next week, I suppose…_"Well…I don't know..."

"Oh, but see, if you don't come home, you won't get to see what I bought you. Too bad." He saw he had her complete attention now, and ruthlessly continued to play what he considered his trump card. "It occurred to me that we've been seeing each other for six months as of today. So, I got you a little something to mark the occasion." _That's got her interest…let's see what she does now._ His penchant for giving her trinkets was something he knew he'd always have, but he could see that he'd caught her completely off-guard.

"Oh, Booth – you didn't have to do that." She paused for a moment. _Oh, I love his little gifts…I wonder what it is? _Almost against her will, she spoke again. "What did you get me?" She knew even before the words left her mouth that it wasn't going to be that easy.

"No no, you have to come with me if you want it. Them's the rules…." He waited patiently as she fidgeted, shuffled papers, squirmed, looked at her calendar. Looked at him. Watching her struggle with herself was extremely entertaining. He knew that if she really did have too much work, she'd stay for at least another hour. If, however, she was just blowing smoke, then…

"Give me twenty minutes."

He smiled. "You've got ten. Hurry up, Temperance."

She hastily shut down her computer and closed up her office, all the time conscious of his eyes on her. She was so attuned to him, so could almost tell what he was thinking as she scurried about, straightening up. Flipping off the lights, she turned to find him standing close, a wicked look in his eyes. "Booth…"

Before she could utter another word his lips were on hers, and he pressed her firmly against the wall, knowing they were hidden from the rest of the lab. His hands roamed, seeking out her softest parts until he knew if they didn't leave, he really was going to have a problem. Reluctantly he eased back, but almost grabbed her again at the dazed expression in her eyes when they finally opened. "That was eleven minutes, Temperance." When she only stared at him, blinking, his jaw clenched as he fought off the urge to take her on the spot. _Buncha squints right outside, Seeley – keep it in your pants._ "Are you ready?"

"Um, yes – yes, let's go." She grabbed his hand when he reached for her, and followed him to the door. "Oh, Booth?" When he glanced back questioningly, she continued. "I have something for you, too." At the hot look he gave her she only smiled.

"Are you gonna wear that?" he asked, indicating her coat.

"No, it's not that cold today. Why?"

"Here, I'll hold it." He plucked it out of her hands, folding it over his arm as they left her office. He caught her eye and shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Don't ask, Bones. Just don't ask."

**Not the end. Yet.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, this is it! I'm very sad to be posting this, the final chapter - but when it's time, it's time. I have other fics that are begging to be written... My endless thanks to all of you who were so kind and encouraging - you kept me going at times when I was doubting myself. You really are all so wonderful, I just can't say enough. So, I really hope you like this last (long-ish) chapter - if you do, drop me a line! And once again, thank you.  
**

**EVE**

The apartment was dark, quiet. Everything was neat and clean; nothing was out of place. A peaceful air permeated the space, subtly accented by the dim murmur of traffic on the street below. That peaceful air was broken with alarming thoroughness when something large hit the outside door with a resounding thud.

"Jesus! Holy - "

"Hurry, Booth. Hurry!"

A metallic scratching filtered through the door, followed by another, louder thump.

"Shit – shit!"

The door burst inward, spilling Booth and Brennan to the floor. They rolled, grappled, rolled again. He fought to grab the door, but it was just out of reach. "Bones – God, let me close the door…" His eyes crossed when her hands slid down his body, coming to rest on a particularly sensitive area. "Oh, goddamnit – shit, Bones…" He managed to hook his toe on the door, and he pushed it hard, praying that it shut. _If not, this is gonna happen with the door open…oh, Jesus…_She was on top of him, rocking against him as she ripped at his jacket. "Bones…slow down…"

"Uh-uh." Her tongue lapped at the skin bared by her attack on him. "**This** time it's **your** fault." She dragged her tongue down his chest, flicking the tip across his nipple, then sucking eagerly. He arched his back, and the evidence of her effect on him only encouraged her. His stomach trembled against her lips, his powerful muscles soft and warm to the touch.

"_Oh, god_…" He was panting now, short, hard rasps burning his lungs, making him dizzy. Her hands were streaking roughly along his upper body, making short work of his shirt. "My fault?"

Flinging the now-ruined shirt across the room, she trailed her hands down his bare chest. "You started it." When he would have brought his hands up to touch her, she grabbed them, pinning them to the floor. Her fingers twined strongly around his, forestalling his attempt to free himself. "You started it at my office, and now I can't think until I have you." He tried to sit up, and her mouth collided with his as she used her leverage to force him down. When she was satisfied he would stay put, she sat up, kneeling over him like something feral. "You know, Booth - you really have excellent bone structure, and your body is extremely well-built. These attributes send out a signal to the female of the species that you would be an excellent progenitor, but..." She bent close, just inches away, analyzing his upper body intently, and then focusing on his face. He caught his breath as a wave of intense desire spiked through him. "…it just makes me want to taste." Without warning, her head dipped down, and a groan was forced from him as she scraped her teeth on his bicep. "Oh, I love your arms…" He had barely recovered from the shock of having her teeth on his skin when she launched herself forward and inhaled deeply against his neck. "Mmm, and this spot, it just smells so good." She pleased herself, nuzzling his soft skin. "But my favorite spot?" She leaned in, running her tongue lazily along his collarbone, pleased with his helpless shiver. "I can't get enough of your deltoid muscles." Without warning, she fastened her teeth on his muscular shoulder and he jolted, raw lust spearing into him.

"Temperance…" Some wild mood had overtaken her and left her completely out of control. He was powerless under her, caught up in a whirlwind of eroticism with her at the core. Her hands were busy, frantic, struggling with his belt buckle. Intending to slow her down, he ran his hands along her legs – then his fingers vised tightly on her as her hand slid inside his trousers. A long, urgent curse burst from his lips as she firmly stroked, kneaded. Feeling the release rising rapidly within him, he was shocked to hear himself beg. "Oh God, Temperance, please, stop, stop..."

She _did_ stop, and he inhaled, relieved. Then hissed out again as he realized, too late, that she'd only stopped in order to drag his pants down that one last inch. In a flash she lowered herself on him, took him in until they were joined completely, and folded forward to kiss the sexy moan from his lips. Her hips rotated, swaying slowly forward, backward, until she felt him move under her. In her. His hands slid back up her thighs, past her bunched up skirt and under her blouse to her breasts. Callused thumbs grazed her sensitive nipples ceaselessly until she started moving faster, panting into his mouth. "More…I want more," she murmured, erotically, boldly. She continued to kiss him, hot, open kisses that scoured his mind of everything but her. Her body rose and fell tirelessly above him, over and over until he was nearly delirious from the pleasure. Mindlessly his hands had moved again, curling around her hips. He pulled her down onto him repeatedly – hard, full strokes, matching her fervent rhythm, gasping and groaning in time with her.

In the dim light she almost seemed like a fantasy, outlined by the faint spill of light but not fully illuminated. She was a fury, feasting on him ravenously, and he wanted nothing more than to let her have her way. Soon, too soon, they reached their limit; she locked tightly onto him, quaking violently. Mindlessly his arms banded around her, pulling her even closer as he rocked, rocked, bucked up into her.

Seconds passed, minutes fled. When his revved system had begun to torque down, he cautiously moved and shifted until he was sure nothing was broken. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to see again, but he cautiously eased an eye open. _Not blind - oh thank God._ He sighed with relief as familiar shadows appeared around him. Shadows offset by the light from the - _Oh, shit._ "Uh, Bones?" Her only response was a wisp of a sigh and a lazy arch of her back. "Bones, you might want to let me up for a minute." He felt her lips curve against his skin an instant before she spoke.

"Now why would I want to do that?" She flexed against him, a lithe twisting of muscles.

The husky tone and empowered satisfaction in her voice made his blood surge momentarily, until rational thought prevailed. "So I can shut the door."

"Hmm. What door?" Her question was answered by the sound of voices moving closer. Surprisingly audible voices. Her eyes flew open. "Oh my god!" In one adrenaline-pumped movement she flung herself off him and rolled, batting at the door with her arm. Luck was with her, and the firm click of the latch was just in time – the voices passed, faded.

In the silence, he wasn't able to determine her mood. He sat up, straining to see her, but to no avail. With the door shut, he could no longer find her at all, and he hoped she wasn't too upset. From the darkness he heard her move and she collided sharply with him, knocking him flat again. An unexpected noise filled the room, and he realized she was…giggling. Temperance Brennan was _giggling_. His mouth dropped open in shock, and then a smile stretched across his face. His chest started to shake and they were laughing, brow to brow, embracing weakly.

When their hysteria had finally passed, she settled indolently on him, her fingers tracing light patterns through his hair. "Do you think anyone heard us?"

"Nah, I'm sure no one did. The door was only cracked an inch or so. And no one walked past, either." There was a long pause, and he continued in a considerably less comfortable tone. "I think." His good humor quickly returned as she burst into laughter again. He rolled her swiftly over, leaning down into her laughing lips, his smile molding to hers. "Oh, God, Bones, I love you…"

Her hands traced the shape of his face, to better know him in the blackness. "Booth. You know I love you, don't you? Do you know **how much** I love you?"

He felt a sudden rush of nervousness in her; he could hear it in her voice. Surprised at her unexpected seriousness, he answered her honestly. "I do, Temperance. I absolutely know how much you love me." He sensed that he had reassured her, but a curious tension was still running through her body, and he wondered at it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She sat up, reaching for the wall switch. As light flooded the room, they were distracted for a moment by the state of their clothes. A small, slightly bashful grin flitted across her face as she tugged down her hopelessly wrinkled skirt, rubbing it distractedly. "I guess I was a little rough with you…"

Fastening the button on his pants, he walked slowly, sensuously toward her and draped his arms around her waist. "A little rough? Hell, Bones, you tore my shirt clean off me. You had your way with me." He bumped his forehead against hers until she raised her face to him, and then kissed her, hotly, seductively. His shadowed eyes looked cagily into hers. "You think I'm gonna complain?" Another heated kiss abraded her lips. "I'm not **that** stupid."

She smiled up at him, linking her hands behind his neck. "Good. So you won't mind if it happens again, then." She enjoyed watching his eyes darken still further, and gasped when he pulled her intimately against him

Oh, no, Bones, I don't think that'll be a problem for me. Just do me a favor next time," he whispered, rubbing his nose against hers, "and close the door first." Her chuckle was swallowed up by his mouth. When at last they broke for air he swung her around, his arm circling her waist. "Okay, Bones, let's change and eat something before we pass out from hunger."

"Wait - wait!" She stopped, pulling at him when she realized he was heading to the bedroom. "I have something I want to show you first."

He studied her as she moved away from him, noting the tension in her shoulders, the hint of fear in her eyes. "Bones – what's going on?"

"I have something for you." She gulped nervously, her confidence rapidly fleeing.

At a loss as to why she would be perturbed over a gift for him, he waited for her to get it so he could discern the cause of her swinging emotions. When she only gestured behind her, he moved into the living room, scanning the area for some type of present. His gaze swept past couch, television, coffee table, and then shot quickly back to the television. The brand-new television. The brand-new sixty-three inch plasma television. "Bones…" In disbelief he turned his head to her. "You bought a TV."

"I did."

Slack-jawed, he stared dumbly at her. "For me?"

"Well - yes, in a way. I felt bad that you could never watch anything when we're here – I know you enjoy watching television. And truthfully, I've needed a new television for some time."

"But look at this beast! It's top-of-the-line, the TV of my dreams!" His face fell slightly. "I would've gone with you, Bones, helped you pick it out – you should've told me."

I wanted to surprise you. I talked to Hodgins, to make sure I purchased the right set. He told me which set you liked – exactly what to buy."

He made a mental note to kiss Hodgins when he saw him again. "Bones, are you sure about this? I mean, I know how much this TV costs. You could've gone with something a little smaller. I hate to think you got this monster for me…"

"No, it's good." She smiled. "Actually, the science and nature shows are visually stunning on this TV – I was quite taken with it myself."

His eyes narrowed. "So, you're sure."

"Yes, I'm sure." She stumbled backward, her arms instantly filled with half-naked male. "Booth!" He swung her around, kissing her enthusiastically. "Are you crazy?"

His lips smacked against hers again. "You – are the best girlfriend in the world." Like a whirlwind he dashed to the table, snatched up the remote. "Alright, let's see what's happening in the world!" The television sprang to life, raucous sound filling the room as he whizzed from channel to channel, finally settling on ESPN.

He glanced back at her and grinned – that big, brilliant smile of his that she loved so much. Her stomach flipped and churned, and her nerve endings jangled. "Booth –" He turned back to watch a play before she could finish her sentence. She bit her lip apprehensively.

As a commercial began to blare, his head twisted toward her again. "Man, Bones, with a killer TV like this, I'm never gonna leave your place!"

Tension ballooned and fear spiked. She drew a deep, unsteady breath. "Okay."

His smile gradually faded, and he stopped. Turned. Focused on her. "What?"

Her hands tangled together tensely. "I said, okay." Her heart careened in her chest at his blank expression.

He blinked - once, and then once more. _So this is why she's so rattled_. Without looking, he pressed a button and muted the television. The sudden silence was startling – he could hear her quick breathing. Dropping the remote on the chair, he came to stand before her. "Why don't you explain what you meant by that?"

Headlong or dead stopped were the only gears she knew when she was nervous - so headlong it was. "I've been thinking that it really doesn't make much sense for us to retain two residences. We stay here or at your place, but if you moved in here it would be much more economical. I have more than enough room for all of your possessions, and although there would be a period of adjustment, I'm sure in the long run that this will be the most reasonable course of action." He was still silent, only giving her a long, appraising stare. "I realize that there might be some awkwardness with Parker, but I'm confident we could explain our cohabitation satisfactorily." Knowing she was talking too much, unable to control her nerves, her chin dropped, and she stared miserably at the floor.

She was shaking - quick, hard shivers that she couldn't quite hide. And she _was _trying to hide them. "You're terrified," he said incredulously. "Temperance, are you sure you want to ask me this?

Thinking back to the first time she'd told him she loved him, she remembered thinking that she'd never be afraid again. It seemed she'd been completely wrong about many things. "I **am** terrified."

He fought off the absurd disappointment her admission caused. "Don't feel like you have to do this, then. Things are wonderful the way they are – I don't want you to ever feel rushed into anything."

She pressed her lips together, hard, hoping to control the shaking, but it was no use. "You don't understand, Booth. I'm not terrified of asking you." Her round eyes were fixed on him, and her words came in a breathless, trembling whisper, nearly inaudible. "I'm terrified that you'll say no." She looked away again, unable to face rejection from him.

A look of indescribable tenderness grew on his face, and a gentle stroke of his finger under her chin turned her back to him. "Are you mine, Temperance?"

Her mind put up a faint, automatic protest about his possessive phrasing. Her rebellious heart would have none of it, however, and throbbed erratically, ardently, shoving her practical nature in a corner. "Yes."

"Then tell me why you think we should live together. The truth." _End game_, was all he could think. _End game_.

The time for fear was over. She knew it. All she had to do was open her mouth and tell him. Nothing would ever be as important – not ever again. "My heart just wants you here. **I** want you here. With me."

His palm lightly cupped her face. "You didn't have to buy the TV to get me to stay...all you had to do was ask. I belong to you." A small smile touched his face. "You're the love of my life, Temperance Brennan."

With a relieved sob she leapt at him, hugging him fiercely, and he folded her into his arms. "I love you, Booth." He held her, a private embrace no one else would ever witness. Kissed her with a gentle passion she had come to depend upon. After a long time, she leaned back with a sniffle, wiping at her face.

He brushed a tear from her lashes. "No more tears, Bones. And promise me, no more doubts."

"I promise I'll never doubt you again, Booth. But the tears..." A soft laugh betrayed her embarrassment. "I seem to have a deplorable weakness in that area when it comes to you."

His lips twisted wryly; his eyes softened. "Well...alright, I think I can deal with that. But I don't want you to worry too much about the details, Bones. Parker, moving - we'll work it all out. It'll be alright. So - we're solid, right?" At the flash of confusion in her eyes, he chuckled and translated. "We're okay?" Finally, the smile he'd been waiting to see brightened her face.

"Yes, we're...solid." She leaned into him for another long moment, but pulled back quickly as a random thought struck her. "Wait. What about my gift?"

His brow wrinkled. "Huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "You said you had something for me. Where is it?"

He laughed, fully, thrilled with her thought process. "Only you could switch subjects that quickly, Bones. Only you. Look, it's just a small gift, **nothing** like the TV…"

"C'mon, Booth, you're driving me crazy! I want my gift..."

Her moist eyes flashed beguilingly at him, and he reached out, tapping her red nose. Making a sound of disgust, he turned, fished a small package out of the depths of the cabinet. "I'm gonna have to stop getting you little gifts."

"Don't you dare stop - **ever**. Besides, I **did** get a big gift. I got **you**."

His eyes glowed. "Alright, but remember I warned you, it's not a big deal –"

Hands on hips, she groaned impatiently. "Booth. Just **stop talking** and give it to me!"

He opened the box, concealing the object as he removed it. Then, as he had so often in the past, he stretched out his hand with a flourish, a winning smile on his handsome face. Resting in his hand was an exquisite, glossy red enamel apple with a tiny, delicate bite removed.

Lips parted, shock on her face, she scrutinized his offering for what seemed an endless amount of time. Just when he began to wonder if she liked it, a beautiful smile spread on her face, and she plucked the apple gracefully from his hand. "Booth - I love it – I absolutely love it." She stepped close, laid her lips on his. "I love you."

"If the shoe fits – don't you agree?" He didn't bother to avoid the easy punch she aimed at him, but stepped closer, crowding her.

Her smile morphed into a sly grin, and she toyed with him, looking at him out of the corner of her innocent blue eyes. "I don't know what that means."

"Oh, come **on**, Bones! I'm beginning to think you say that just to win arguments or feel superior – you use it just a little **too** often…" He drew her down on the couch next to him, refusing to let go when she struggled.

"What – I do not! Just because you can't accurately express yourself doesn't mean you get to blame **me**!" She pried halfheartedly at his hands, but he was immovable. Unless she hurt him, she was stuck. Heaving a long-suffering sigh, she avoided his kiss until he grabbed her chin – and then bit his lip.

Sulking, he let go of her. "Man, some girlfriend you turned out to be. You smack me down verbally, you buy me a gift, but it's really **your** TV, so you actually got **two** gifts and I got **none**!" The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Hey! I bought the TV for **you**!"

"That's bull." Gleefully, he wound her up. "You just wanna watch another basketball game, 'cause you secretly **love** basketball now that you watched a game with me."

"Actually, I only watched **part** of a game, and I found it quite disturbing that a number of the players suffer from various forms of bone deformities due to the stress placed on their abnormally tall frames. For instance, I noticed several players with aberrations of the ilium and sacrum…" She stopped short, surprised when he turned off the television. "What are you doing?" Too late, she realized his intent, but before she could scramble away he pulled her into his arms and kissed her nearly senseless.

"How about we **don't** watch TV right now. C'mon, Bones, let's neck instead."

She smiled and pulled him in.

**Well, that's it. I had SO much fun writing this - I hope you enjoyed reading it! If you did, please drop me a line and let me know. Favorite chapter? Favorite moment? I'd be interested to hear what you thought! And thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed - I could not have kept going without your valuable input.**


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